Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The protests roiling Iran this fall have had an epicenter in Iranian Kurdistan in the west of the country. The death in the custody of the Shiite morality police of Tehran of a Kurdish young woman, Mahsa “Zhina” Amini, rallied Kurdish-Iranian subnationalism. Cities like Mahabad, Saqqez, and Sanandaj have seen […]
First-Nations-Led Youth Win Climate/ Human Rights Case against Mammoth Coal Mine in Australia
By Justine Bell-James, The University of Queensland | – In a historic ruling today, a Queensland court has said the massive Clive Palmer-owned Galilee Basin coal project should not go ahead because of its contribution to climate change, its environmental impacts, and because it would erode human rights. The case was mounted in 2020 by […]
The Other Iran: Veiling and Puritanism vs. the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The ongoing rallies and demonstrations that have wracked Iran since mid-September have been many things. It is a women’s protest against severe patriarchy It is a Gen Z youth protest demanding greater personal freedoms from their 85-year-old Theocrat. It is an ethnic protest by Sunni Kurds and Baluch against Shiite […]
Israel: Ultra-Far-Right Ben-Gvir Given Nat’l Security Ministry – As though KKK took over Homeland Security in US
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that the Likud Party of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu signed a deal on Friday with what the paper calls the “fascist” Jewish Power party of Itamar Ben-Gvir giving the latter the post of minister of national security. Jewish Power will also get the ministry […]
Did the Ukraine War kill ‘Natural Gas?’ Solar Power is 10 times Cheaper over the long Term
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The independent energy research firm Rystad Energy, headquartered in Oslo, has found that it would be ten times less expensive over the long run to install solar farms than to continue to operate gas-fired electricity plants in Europe. Although the Ukraine War has been good for petroleum and fossil gas […]
Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims were saved by Native Advice; We should listen to Deb Haaland and other Native Leaders on the Climate Crisis
Revised. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The popular story about Thanksgiving is an environmental parable that we would do well to remember today. It was a harvest festival in 1621, participated in by the 50 (out of 100) survivors at Plymouth Plantation and 90 members of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. A Patuxet, Tisquantum (known as […]
Israel has Jailed 50,000 Palestinian Children since 1967, and the Number of Detentions is Growing Rapidly: Report
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Palestinian Commission on Detainees and Ex-Detainees released a report for World Children’s Day on the routine Israeli arrest and jailing of minors, saying that Palestinian children are not secure from being constantly targeted by Israeli security forces. The Commission report found a worrying and massive increase in the rate […]
Iran: Sunni Kurdish Clerics Call for Nat’l Referendum under U.N., as Shiite Security Forces Kill 13 in Crackdown on Kurdish West
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, a large group of Sunni Kurdish clerics called for an internationally supervised referendum in Iran. According to BBC Monitoring, they also demanded the release of all political prisoners and the prosecution of the officials who have been overseeing the crackdown on Iran’s protests, which has resulted in hundreds […]
Top 6 Ways Republicans have Spread Hatred of Gays — Background to Club Q Mass Shooting
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A 22-year-old gunman walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs Sunday and shot five people to death with a long gun, injuring 25, before two people inside the club bravely took him on and stopped further murders. Club Q bills itself as a safe space for LGBTQ patrons. So report […]
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