Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper and Lara Jakes at the New York Times get the scoop. Their sources in the White House tell them that last Thursday, in a meeting with his senior advisers, Trump abruptly asked them if there were options for a US strike […]
In Slight to Biden, Israel sends Squatters to cut Palestinian East Jerusalem off from Palestinian Bethelehem, West Bank
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Alarabiya reports that the government of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has let bids for 1257 new segregated Israeli-only housing units on stolen West Bank Palestinian land, with the bidding to end on January 18, two days before Joe Biden is sworn in. Netanyahu is clearly milking the last two […]
Importance of Middle East Plummets as Britain, Ireland, Denmark announce 2030 Funeral for New Gasoline Cars
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Middle East is likely to plummet in significance for the United States over the next two decades. Let’s face it, the main reason we hear so much about Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (as opposed to Senegal and Uruguay) is that they produce petroleum, and the world transportation […]
Climate Change Will Make Parts of the U.S. Uninhabitable; but Americans Are Still Moving There (ProPublica Video)
( ProPublica) – Over the past year, the advent of a professional economy powered by people working from home has quickened the conversation about where to live, particularly among millennials. “Is now the right time to buy property in Minnesota?” “Is Buffalo the new place to be?” How important is proximity to fresh water? Should […]
As Wind, Solar, surge, Renewables to be Globe’s largest Source of Electricity by 2025
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Energy Agency just issued a report concluding that wind and solar are growing rapidly, unlike beleaguered fossil fuels, and that in only five years they will be generating a third of the world’s electricity, overtaking coal. They will overtake natural gas sooner, in 2023. Coal is the dirtiest […]
Georgia’s Embattled Sen. Perdue Protects own Beach-Front Mansion from Climate Emergency, while voting to Burn more Fossil Fuels
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia, facing a run-off against Jon Ossof, has an opulent six-room beach-front mansion that has been protected with newly built, pricey jetties and sea walls against sea level rise, storm surges and coastal erosion. Why, it is as if Perdue thinks the climate emergency is […]
In Reward for Israeli ties, Trump to sell F-35 Stealth Bomber to Emirates despite its killing of Civilians in Yemen, Libya
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Yemeni news site Maarib Press headlines the news that Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced that he is authorizing the sale of $23 billion worth of F-35 Stealth fighter jets and other super-sophisticated weapons to the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates, a small federation of seven […]
Pompeo’s touting of “Second Trump Administration” craters State Department’s Credibility on Democracy Promotion
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nicole Gaouette, Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood at CNN report that secretary of state Mike Pompeo insisted there would be a smooth transition to a second Trump term. The statement, which appears to have been sardonic rather than in earnest, disgusted a lot of people, especially ambassadors. If it was […]
Trump fires Mark “Yesper” Esper as SecDef; Was it over Afghanistan withdrawal?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Nicole Gaouette at CNN report on the firing of secretary of defense Mark Esper on Twitter by Trump. Esper appears to have adopted a relatively mild demeanor with Trump for the past 18 months, though he was known gingerly to disagree with the president on […]