Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Voices from the Right wing, prominently featured in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, are warning that the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi by a hit squad made up of persons close to crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman should not mean the end of the close US relationship with Saudi Arabia. […]
Saudi war on Yemen: World’s Worst Famine in a Century could Claim 13 Million
Yemen is a country of some 29 million persons, but over a third of them are at risk of starvation if Saudi and UAE bombing campaigns continue. Lise Grand, the United Nations coordinator for Yemen, has warned that the world has only 3 months to halt the slide toward catastrophe. She seems to think that […]
Tokyo’s Net Carbon Zero Olympics, as Japan surges toward 65 GW Solar
I love Japan, but I have to say its government has dragged its feet on renewable energy. But there are signs of a big turnaround on the issue in the world’s third largest economy, which would be huge. Despite worries about the impact of planned phasing out of solar subsidies, there are lots of good […]
Iran: Khashoggi was Murdered because West Shielded Saudis from Criticism
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment): According to the invaluable BBC Monitoring press surveys of Middle Eastern newspapers, the coverage of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has differed enormously from country to country. In Lebanon, which has a diverse and somewhat free press, former journalist Paula Yaqoubian told al-Jadid […]
Future of Climate Activism: Dutch Court orders Gov’t to Reduce CO2 Emissions Dramatically
An appeals court in the Netherlands has upheld a 2015 lower court ruling in a class action case that the Dutch government needs to do more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by 2020. So far the Netherlands has only reduced 13% from 1990 levels. The court appealed to the principle […]
On not Writing Recommendation Letters for the Occupiers in Palestinian Territories
An Open Letter to the University of Michigan on Palestine | – My colleague John Cheney-Lippold in the American Culture Department of the University of Michigan has been disciplined by the Colleges of Letters, Sciences and Arts for declining to write a recommendation letter for a student to do summer study at Tel Aviv University. […]
Did Islam grow up as a Reaction to the Survival of Paganism in the Eastern Roman Empire?
Both the Qur’an and later Muslim sources indicate that there were controversies in Muhammad’s home town of Mecca (and perhaps elsewhere in the Near East) that began some three or four years after his initial experience of revelation in 610. If Muhammad did keep his teachings secret 610-613, then it was sometime after he began […]
Ron DeSantis’s Policies Helped Summon Hurricane Michael and he Should not be Governor
* WaPo reports of the most powerful storm to hit Florida’s panhandle in recorded history, coming in as a level 4 and briefly becoming 5: “Hurricane Michael roared ashore Wednesday near the Florida Panhandle, one of the most intense hurricanes to ever hit the United States. With winds as high as 155 mph, the Category […]
Muhammad, Peace and the Jews of Medina: Juan Cole Discussion at Reddit
Collective Interview with Juan Cole about his new book at AskHistorians, Reddit.com (Rearranged for readability.) AMA: I am Juan Cole, author of ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires’ out today. AMA Here is the description from the publisher: “Many observers stereotype Islam and its scripture as inherently extreme or violent-a narrative that […]
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