Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Republicans, among all Americans, are the most Islamophobic or Muslim-hating, with 72% holding that Muslims are more likely than members of other religions to encourage violence by their community. Republican TV idol Tucker Carlson called Iraqis “monkeys” and “illiterate” and maintains that “white men” invented civilization. That is, Muslims in […]

Bush

Iraq is seeking 10 Gigawatts of Solar Power; if World had gone Green in ’80s, Would the US have ever invaded Iraq?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a historic irony, Iraq is turning to solar energy, according to Dania Saadi at SPGlobal. Ali Jawad at the Anadolu Agency reports that the Baghdad government is seeking to generate 10 gigawatts of solar power for electricity by 2030, though it already has several projects in train that will […]

Featured

UN Turns back on War Crimes in Saudi-Led War on Yemen, as 16 million March toward Starvation

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that on Thursday the UN Human Rights Council voted 21 to 18 with 7 abstentions against a resolution urging the renewal of the mandate of of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (GEE). The group of experts had found in 2018 that parties […]

China

Iran’s Hard Line gov’t Ebullient about higher Oil Prices, as China Defies US Sanctions on Tehran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran is a big beneficiary of the run-up in oil prices, with Brent crude hitting a multi-year high of $83 a barrel on Wednesday and the West Texas Intermediate price hitting about $79 a barrel. Analysts expect prices to remain high as we move into winter, when there is extra […]

Corporate Surveillance

Haugen: Facebook has become the Terminator

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Frances Haugen’s whistleblower testimony on Tuesday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security highlighted Facebook’s interactions with children, but the testimony was a devastating indictment of the pernicious effects of the company’s algorithms on human societies across the planet. Haugen is […]

Climate Crisis

Britain, once victim of Coal-driven “Great Smog,” vows 100% Green Electricity by 2035

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a goal of getting all electricity from renewables by 2035. The announcement was flawed in various ways, but it was historic. The world’s first coal-fired electric plant opened in London in 1882. It was the Edison Electric Light Station, at 57 Holborn […]

CO2

Ecological Disaster at Huntington Beach as Oil Spill Threatens Marine Life, Wetlands, Tourism Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Drilling for oil in the ocean off California’s pristine beaches is about the stupidest and most evil human activity you can think of. Oil is leaky and gets spilled into the ocean, harming the environment. But if it gets delivered without incident to the refinery and is made into gasoline […]

Featured

Water Justice for Occupied Palestinians is demanded by UN, as Israeli Squatters Use 87% of Aquifers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights formally reported on Friday on the unjust water situation in the Palestinian West Bank, which is under Israeli military occupation and subject to an illegal colonization effort by Israel to displace the indigenous population with Israeli squatters. A draft of the report […]

Democratic Party

It isn’t Red COVID, it is Republican Necrophilia – Creepy Love of Death

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States has crossed the threshold of 700,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Some 43 million Americans have contracted the deadly disease, which can have long-term health consequences. In contrast, the 1918 influenza epidemic killed 675,000 Americans. While this is the absolute number […]