Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Both at COP26 and in the U.S. Congress, a lot of attention is rightly focused on what governments are doing to confront the dire challenges of our climate emergency. Ultimately, governments are the only entities with sufficient reach and power to guarantee an energy transition away from fossil fuels. Nevertheless, […]

Donald Trump

In Irrational COVID Policy, is there any Difference between Republicans and Iran’s Ayatollahs?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – David Axe at the Daily Beast reports on what he says is very bad news for the US red states whose Republican governors are depending on herd immunity to get us past the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Iranian provinces have, since its beginning, reported more cases of the coronavirus than they […]

China

After 30 Secret Meetings, US and China announce Joint initiative to Combat Global Heating in Diplomatic Thaw

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Owen Churchill at the South China Morning Post reports that the United States and China at the UN Climate Conference COP26 have agreed on a statement of principles aimed at limiting extra global heating to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) above the late 18th century norms before humanity began dumping billions […]

Donald Trump

Paul Gosar’s Fantasy of War Rape against AOC is Frustration that the Impotent Capitol Insurrection Failed

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Arizona Congressman, dentist, and inveterate nutcase Paul Gosar posted to Twitter a photoshopped Anime video showing himself as a cartoon character plunging a sword into the neck of a monster with the face of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Queens and the Bronx. He is also seen menacing Joe Biden. Threatening […]

Featured

“A Cruel, Ingenious Cage:” Israel’s Panopticon for Palestinians archives the Bodies of the Occupied

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Two breathtaking reports out on Monday underlined the vast and unprecedented Israeli electronic surveillance of an entire population — the some 3 million stateless Palestinians of the Occupied West Bank. Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post interviewed Israeli veterans from Breaking the Silence, who oppose the Israeli occupation of the […]

Featured

American Legacy of Instability in Iraq continues as caretaker Prime Minister Narrowly avoids Assassination by Drone

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Jazeera reports that Iraqi authorities on Sunday announced that Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped being assassinated by three drones loaded with explosives that targeted his residence in the Green Zone in the center of Baghdad around dawn. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which damaged the prime […]

Climate Crisis

Goodies for Greens in Biden’s $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Act

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was passed by the Senate some time ago and then passed by the House of Representatives on the evening of Friday, November 6, has some great news in it for greening the economy. It is admittedly a mixed bag, but let’s consider […]

Congress

Fightin’ Joe Biden Wins big, on Jobs, Covid, the Dow and Infrastructure, but Corporate News downplays Successes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The for-profit press thinks it knows what the story in Washington, D.C., is. Joe Biden is a boring president who struggles to get anything done and the Democratic Party is a hot mess of infighting that paralyzes it. Corporate news is the Eeyore of the news world, spreading pessimism and […]

Climate Crisis

Question for Joe Manchin after COP26: Why isn’t Coal — the New Blood Diamonds– Illegal, Now?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Denise Chow at NBC News reports that on Thursday at the UN climate conference Cop26, some 23 new countries signed on to Britain’s push to phase out coal, the biggest source of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. These included Poland, South Korea, Indonesia, Chile and Vietnam. Poland is the Saudi […]