Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party, pushed the button last week that brought down the country’s tallest structure, the chimney of the massive coal plant at Fife. The plant was decommissioned in 2016, as Scotland replaced coal with renewables for electricity generation, but the demolition was […]

Climate Crisis

Why Biden is Likely right that the Climate Emergency is partly to blame for massive Tornadoes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The string of horrific tornadoes generated by unrelenting thunderstorms over hundreds of miles in the southeast and midwest of the US has likely left over a hundred dead, and has wiped out portions of small towns. As with any extreme weather event, it is natural to ask whether it is […]

Featured

Spike in Violence in 2021 by Israeli Forces, Squatters, toward Palestinian Children: Defense for Children, UN’s Bachelet

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Defense for Children International-Palestine reports that 2021 was the deadliest year for Palestinian children in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories in seven years, with 78 killed by Israeli troops or militant Zionist squatter-settlers. The bulk of these deaths came from last May’s indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of densely-populated Gaza. Israeli forces also […]

Anti-Vaccination

As 6x as Many die of COVID in Deep Red Counties as in Deep Blue, Sen. Ron Johnson touts . . . Mouthwash as Cure

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is now alleging that mouthwashes are the way to avoid getting COVID-19. Johnson, a powerful figure in Washington and former chair of the committee on Homeland Security, has a history of promoting quackery regarding the novel coronavirus. He said, “Standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to […]

Climate Crisis

“Given me a Lever and I will Move the Earth:” Biden orders greening of Federal Gov’t, buying of EVs and Solar Panels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (d. 212 BC), speaking of the power of the lever, said, “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” (δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω). In the US economy there are few more powerful levers than […]

censorship

Justice: French arrest Man they believe to be Top Saudi Assassin of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Juan Cole

Update: French authorities have released the individual they apprehended on Tuesday. Read on for the significance of this attempted arrest of al-Otaibi. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Rick Noack and Sarah Dadouch at The Washington Post report that French authorities arrested a Saudi man they believe to be Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, a member of the […]

Climate Crisis

California’s water supplies are in trouble as climate change worsens natural dry spells, especially in the Sierra Nevada

The Conversation

By Roger Bales | – California is preparing for a third straight year of drought, and officials are tightening limits on water use to levels never seen so early in the water year. Most of the state’s water reservoirs are well below average, with several at less than a third of their capacity. The outlook […]

China

For first time, China now gets a Trillion Watts of Electricity from Wind-Water-Hydro

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China reached a milestone this fall, of producing a terawatt of electricity from renewables — wind, water, hydro and a bit of biomass. A trillion watts is equivalent to 10 billion 100-watt light bulbs. This milestone is worth celebrating, though it is worth noting that wind and solar currently account […]

Featured

Nuclear Talks: Iran thumbs nose at US, betting on China as new Superpower

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The recent round of talks in Vienna between Iran and Germany plus the 4 members of the UN Security Council who are still members of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) have not gone well, though further meetings are planned. One reason is that […]