By Jeff Ernsthausen, Paul Kiel and Jesse Eisinger | – ( Propublica) – Here’s a tale of two Stephen Rosses. Real life Stephen Ross, who founded Related Companies, a global firm best known for developing the Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards in Manhattan, was a massive winner between 2008 and 2017. He became the […]
Archives for December 2021
California’s water supplies are in trouble as climate change worsens natural dry spells, especially in the Sierra Nevada
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 […]
For first time, China now gets a Trillion Watts of Electricity from Wind-Water-Hydro
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 […]
The End of Democracy’s Fourth Wave? The New Authoritarians in the Mideast and Eastern Europe
By Amr Hamzawy | – (Middle East Monitor ) – Governments are described as authoritarian when they do not grant people the right to choose them freely and change them freely through periodic and fair elections when they prevent the free circulation of information and refrain from being transparent in their management of public affairs, […]
We’re not at War: Why is Congress giving $778 Billion of our Money to the Pentagon?
( Code Pink) – Despite a disagreement over some amendments in the Senate, the United States Congress is poised to pass a $778 billion military budget bill for 2022. As they have been doing year after year, our elected officials are preparing to hand the lion’s share – over 65% – of federal discretionary spending […]
Top 6 Ways to Rescue Our Planet
By Phoebe Barnard and William Moomaw | – For some time, the Earth’s natural resources have been depleted faster than they can be replaced. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has set a 2030 deadline to reduce heat-trapping emissions by half to avoid climate change that is both irreversible and destructive. With colleagues, we coauthored […]
Nuclear Talks: Iran thumbs nose at US, betting on China as new Superpower
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 […]
The Donald Also Rises? The Far Right Continues to Build Its International
( Tomdispatch.com) – What alt-right guru Steve Bannon failed to create, German taxpayers have just stepped in to revive: a Nationalist International. Thanks to the German government, the far right is about to get its own well-heeled global think tank, complete with the sort of political academy that was so dear to Bannon’s plan for […]
The Qur’an and Plato’s Republic: Hellenism and Early Islam (Juan Cole Video Interview)
Interview by Ziryab Jamal of Juan Cole | – “THE QUR’ĀN’S CHAPTER “The Cow” contains a verse (2:138) having to do with believers being dyed with the dye of God, which has occasioned speculation both among Muslim exegetes and academic scholars. I translate it this way: “The dye of God! Who is better than God […]
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