By Adam Voiland | – (NASA Earth Observatory) – In May 2019, when atmospheric carbon dioxide reached its yearly peak, it set a record. The May average concentration of the greenhouse gas was 414.7 parts per million (ppm), as observed at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii. That was the highest seasonal peak […]
If Trump’s Steampunk History of Revolutionary War Airbases isn’t Grounds for Impeachment, What is?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Suhauna Hussain at the LA Times reviews Trump’s fragile grasp of history, from his Revolutionary War airports to his Revolutionary War bombardment of Ft.McHenry (which occurred during 1812). In the 1980s, K. W. Jeter and others, building on work of Michael Moorcock, developed a new genre of science fiction set […]
Israel Systematically Hiding Documents Proving Expulsion, Oppression of Palestinians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hagar Shezaf at the Israeli newspaper of record, Haaretz [“The Land”], reveals that a secretive Israeli agency has been systematically going through the country’s archives, including local repositories, and removing and classifying documents having to do with repressive and embarrassing Israeli actions toward Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis. One such disappeared document […]
Your Fourth of July and My Fourth of July (in the Age of Trump)
Ann Arbor | (Informed Comment) | – – Revised for the the Age of Trump: Your Fourth of July is tanks in the streets. My Fourth of July is James Madison’s warning, “A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.” Your Fourth of July is unbathed refugee […]
Cole in Time Magazine for the Fourth of July on Lydia Maria Child and Islam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Time Magazine does an annual feature on unsung moments in American history for their 4th of July edition. This year they asked me to submit one of the 15 vignettes. Influenced by the work of Jeffrey Einboden on Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880), I suggested as my unsung moment the 1855 […]
June Hottest Month on Record, As Antarctica Melts: Top 3 Signs We are Cooking the Planet . . . and Ourselves
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. A European Union satellite has confirmed that June, 2019, was the hottest month on earth since scientific record-keeping began around 1850. In fact, if you take the averages of 1850-1900, June was 5.4 degrees F. warmer (3 degrees C.) Some parts of Europe were actually 10 degrees C. (18 […]
Iran hasn’t Breached the Nuclear Deal– Trump had already Destroyed It
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Monday that Iran has exceeded 300 grams of Low Enriched Uranium. The 300-gram limit was part of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear deal, negotiated between Tehran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council […]
Europe, Defying Trump, Implements New Currency Exchange with Iran
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Frances Coppola at Forbes reports that European powers have made operational their Instex exchange mechanism, which will allow European and other companies to do business with Iran while avoiding US Treasury Department sanctions. The move is the biggest split between the US and Europe over an international policy issue since […]
Dear Trump: CO2 is Polluting our Atmosphere and Acidifying our Water: They aren’t “the Cleanest”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In remarks to the press at the G20 meeting in Osaka, Trump was asked about climate change. He replied that taking steps to combat climate change would be too heavy a burden for the US economy. Trump said, “We have the cleanest air we’ve ever had, but I’m not willing […]