2025

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy consultancy reports that in the first half of 2025, the world put in 380 gigawatts of new solar capacity. That compares to 232 gigs in the first half of 2024, for a 64% increase. By the end of June, 2022, the world had only installed 90 new […]

Omar Khayyam

“But come with old Khayyam and leave the Lot,” FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:9

Juan Cole

As with stanza 1:8, the next quatrain in Edward FitzGerald’s 1859 translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám concerns the fleeting character of political glory, and of life in general. It continues to introduce English-speaking audiences to Iranian kings and heroes, the Persian equivalents of Agamemnon and Achilles: IX. But come with old Khayyam, and […]

Israel/ Palestine

The full Seizure of Gaza: A Path toward Isolation and Collapse

Middle East Monitor

By Timothy Hopper ( Middle East Monitor ) – As tensions rise in the Middle East, Benjamin Netanyahu, with his security cabinet’s backing, has chosen to seize full control of the Gaza Strip; a move that’s as audacious as it is perilous, threatening Israel’s security, economy, and global reputation. Framed as a strike against Hamas, […]

Arctic

Warming Temperatures affect Glaciers’ ability to store Meltwater, contributing to rising Sea Levels

The Conversation

(The Conversation) – Danielle Halle, University of Waterloo and Wesley Van Wychen, University of Waterloo In higher elevations, firn, frozen water that is something between snow and ice, covers the top of glaciers. Firn plays a critical role in regulating glacial meltwater and sea level rise. It does this by absorbing meltwater, the water released […]

Featured

A Dangerous Profession, from Palestine to Iran: When Journalists are the Target

Fariba Amini

“Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life.” – ― Stefan Zweig Throughout wars and even in the calmest situations, journalists, especially independent ones, have always been the target of their governments and their cadres. In this war, which is not […]

Genocide

How the UN Can Act Decisively to End Genocide in Gaza

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink ) – One year ago, the UN General Assembly demanded that Israel must end its occupation of the Palestinian Territories within twelve months. The General Assembly voted, by 124 votes to 14, with 43 abstentions, for a strong resolution that not only “demanded” an end to the occupation within a year, but […]

Peace

Researching the Roots of War to Fight Militarism

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com ) – I have spent the bulk of my career — on and off since the late Carter Administration — following the money that drives war and repression. What I have finally learned after so many decades of doing research on the war machine is that while research is critical, it must be […]

Featured

Manufactured Famines in Gaza began almost 2 Decades Ago, So why Haven’t they been Halted?

Dan Steinbock

New York (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Recently, international media has highlighted the mass famine in Gaza. Yet, there have been effectively three waves of famine in Gaza since spring 2024. First weaponized 18 years ago in the Strip, these hunger games could have been preempted several times. Why weren’t they? On Friday, August […]