Featured

The US government has apparently failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and other abuse by US forces at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq two decades ago. Iraqis tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for receiving redress or recognition from the US government though […]

Featured

Iran’s Denials and Delusions at the United Nations

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Frankly, it was hard to watch last weekend’s interview of Farid Zakaria of CNN with Iran’s current president, Raisi. It was embarrassing. As usual it was all denial and delusion on the part of the highest official of the Islamic Republic. When Raisi’s men showed up at […]

Australia

In First, Rooftop Solar Alone provides 101% of South Australia’s Electricity Demand

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Giles Parkinson at RenewEconomy in Australia reports that rooftop solar briefly generated 101% of South Australia’s electricity demand on Saturday around 2 pm local time. This milestone is important, since it was reached entirely with rooftop solar on residential and business edifices rather than with industrial-scale solar farms, of which […]

Batteries

Selling like Hotcakes: 1 mn EVs sold in US during Past Year — which is Why UAW Workers deserve Green New Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A million purely battery-electric vehicles have been sold in the US during the past year, according to David Reichmuth at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Tom Randall at Bloomberg notes that it took 10 years for the first million EVs to be sold in the US, and it took two […]

Featured

Israel’s Netanyahu at UN Wipes Palestinians off the Map, Menaces Iran with “Credible Nuclear Threat”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu seems to love waving around cartoonish props at the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting. This year his theme was the likelihood of an Israel-Saudi rapprochement, which is being pushed by the Biden administration despite the abysmal Saudi human rights violations and despite Netanyahu’s ongoing […]

Climate Crisis

The Era of Rupert Murdoch, a Blight on our Heating Planet and a Fomenter of War and Racial Hatreds, is Passing

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Australian-American press lord Rupert Murdoch, 92, announced Thursday that he would step down as the CEO of both News Corp and Fox News as of November. It would take a multi-volume book to detail all the horrible and catastrophic things Murdoch has done to the world. In Informed Comment, which […]

Featured

Israeli Export Ban Piled Economic Misery on Palestinians of Gaza, as Youths increase Emigration

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Palestinian authorities are increasingly concerned about what they see as an increase in emigration by young Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli siege since 2007. They cite lack of jobs, a poor economy, high prices, and frequent electricity outages, according to the Palestinian Arab Front. This […]

Climate Crisis

Libyan Dam Collapse and Flooding that Killed 20,000 was made 50 Times more likely by Climate Change

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Weather Attribution site, run by professional European climate scientists, estimated that “An event as extreme as the one observed over Libya has become up to 50 times more likely and up to 50% more intense compared to a 1.2C cooler climate.” They mean that in the eighteenth century, […]

Authoritarianism

The Legacy of Mahsa, a Year later: It Is Only the Beginning for Iranian Women

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Imagine, you come from your small town to visit the capital. You have a whole plan to visit places, parks, and monuments. You want to have a good time with your friends and relatives. The night before you are together with your friends and family. You laugh, […]