Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo made 2024 a hard year to bear for anyone following them, and unfortunately it was all too easy to spend the year doomscrolling through the horrid video feeds that testified to humanity’s inhumanity. The fate […]
How Solar Power could save Fossil Gas Giant Iran from its Energy Crisis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran has for weeks been in the midst of an energy crisis. It may seem paradoxical given that it has some of the biggest oil and gas fields in the world. Some 70% of Iran’s electricity is generated by fossil gas. Power blackouts have inflicted billions of dollars of losses […]
NOLA Attacker was a Vet who fought the War on Terror against Extremists before Breakdown
Ann Arbor – (Informed Comment) – I love New Orleans, and have been known to hit the jazz clubs on Bourbon Street into the wee hours myself. So what happened there is a gut punch, and I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims and to the community there for its […]
“Raise a Glass with Someone Pretty:” New Year’s Day in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I am rewriting a previous essay here and adding some new translations. The world has seen a lot of misery this past year, I thought it might be nice to talk about poetry and rebirth today. In 2020, I brought out a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, […]
With Israel’s Destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, UN Rapporteur calls for Global Medical Boycott
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian Territories, reacted forcefully to the complete destruction by the Israeli military of Kamal Adwan Hospital at Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and the arrest and abuse of its patients and its director. She called for a world-wide medical boycott of […]
Jimmy Carter’s Victory against the Guinea Worm, with only 7 Cases this Year Worldwide, down from Millions
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On the occasion of former President Jimmy Carter’s death, I am reprinting this column with some updates. The guinea worm may be the second major human disease after smallpox to be completely eradicated. It is a parasite that you get from drinking water with small fleas in it. The larvae […]
2024 Word of the Year: Genocide (as in, Gaza)
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The word of the year was certainly “genocide.” It was alleged of Israel’s Gaza campaign by South Africa in a case brought before the International Court of Justice, and this charge was also lodged by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, and the UN Special Committee to investigate […]
Egypt opens 500 MW Solar Plant, Plans Factory with Sweden to Manufacture Photovoltaic Panels
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Egypt is perfect for solar power, even though the country has not implemented much of it yet. The Egyptians had installed 1.8 gigawatts of solar by the beginning of this year, most of it at the Benban Solar Park some 400 miles south of Cairo in the Aswan Governorate. But […]
Shamash! Crude Strikes
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