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No, Mr. Netanyahu, Iran isn’t trying to Take over the world & it isn’t ISIL

No, Mr. Netanyahu, Iran isn’t trying to Take over the world & it isn’t ISIL
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanahu charged last week that Iran was the major sponsor of terrorism in the world and that it wants…
www.juancole.com

Gaza breakdancers perform to express themselves against war

Gaza breakdancers perform to express themselves against war
Lizzie Phelan | (RT Video Report) | – – “It’s a year and a day since Israel unleashed a devastating 7-week bombing campaign in Gaza – in a bid to stop cross-border…
www.juancole.com

Iran Deal can only Succeed with the Support of Civil Society

Iran Deal can only Succeed with the Support of Civil Society
By John Robert Kelley | ( Euractiv) | – – . . . [T]he key to success in the Iran nuclear deal lies in its implementation, and that should be everyone’s business.…
www.juancole.com

Why did the US fail in Iraq? Roots of American Overstretch

Why did the US fail in Iraq? Roots of American Overstretch
By William Polk | (Informed Comment) | – – In The Financial Times of April 23, 2015, Philip Stephens begins a perceptive article with the obvious statement that “It is easier to…
www.juancole.com

The Unbearable Heaviness of the Drone Cowboy

The Unbearable Heaviness of the Drone Cowboy
By Pratap Chatterjee | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – The myth of the lone drone warrior is now well established and threatens to become as enduring as that of the lone lawman with…
www.juancole.com

Egypt: ISIL claims Massive Blast at Italian Consulate that Kills 1, wounds 4

Egypt: ISIL claims Massive Blast at Italian Consulate that Kills 1, wounds 4
Times of India | (Video Report) | – – “At least one person was killed and four others injured today in a powerful explosion outside the Italian consulate in the Egyptian capital.”…
www.juancole.com

GOP attacks USA Clean Power Plan, again seceding from reality-based community

GOP attacks USA Clean Power Plan, again seceding from reality-based community
The Tree | – – Republicans in the US Senate and Governor’s offices continue to lampoon the Obama administration’s plans addressing climate change despite facts showing the overwhelming benefits for Americans. On…
www.juancole.com

For Gaza Children, Returning to School reminder of Dead, Wounded Classmates

For Gaza Children, Returning to School reminder of Dead, Wounded Classmates
Fred Abrahams | (Human Rights Watch) | — The fighting began one year ago and lasted for 51 days. In Gaza, Israeli attacks from land, air, and sea killed 551 children and…
www.juancole.com

How the Washington Post got Taken in by Syria’s Taliban

How the Washington Post got Taken in by Syria’s Taliban
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Making alliances of convenience is a perennial temptation in Washington, where policy-makers often have more ambition than ethics or common sense. Thus, the Washington Post just…
www.juancole.com

Omar Sharif didn’t have to Play a Terrorist

Omar Sharif didn’t have to Play a Terrorist
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Omar Sharif is dead at 83. Born Michel Chalhoub in Alexandria to Lebanese Christian parents in 1932, he changed his name and converted…
www.juancole.com

Israel to Destroy Homes of 40 Bedouin Families

Israel to Destroy Homes of 40 Bedouin Families
By IMEMC | – – Israeli administration has delivered notices for the demolition of dozens of makeshift Bedouin homes of Abu Nawar village, east of Jerusalem. Accordig to the PNN, the notices…
www.juancole.com

George W. Bush Started War, then Charged $100,000 to Help US Veterans Charity

George W. Bush Started War, then Charged $100,000 to Help US Veterans Charity
Brian Ross | (ABC News Video) | – – ““It’s not right,” says wounded Marine hero.” ABC News: “George W. Bush Charged $100,000 to Help US Veterans Charity” Estimates of US troops…
www.juancole.com

Ten Easy Steps to save the World: 96% of needed CO2 Emissions Reduction Possible by 2030

Ten Easy Steps to save the World: 96% of needed CO2 Emissions Reduction Possible by 2030
By Kitty Stapp | (Inter Press Service) | – – NEW YORK (IPS) – Up to 96 percent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to keep global warming below a critical…
www.juancole.com

Jeb Bush Thinks You Don’t Work Hard Enough

Jeb Bush Thinks You Don’t Work Hard Enough
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “Jeb Bush has an interesting idea on how to boost economic growth: people should just work longer hours. Despite the fact that…
www.juancole.com
After Charleston, Are Muslim-Americans in the Sights of Islamophobes?
Dylann Roof was indicted on Tuesday by a grand jury for nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. The charges come out of his alleged shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17.
thenation.com

Iraq: As Battle Royale to take Falluja from Daesh/ ISIL Looms, Fears for Civilians

Iraq: As Battle Royale to take Falluja from Daesh/ ISIL Looms, Fears for Civilians
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Falluja is surrounded and under siege by the Iraqi Army and its Shiite militia auxiliaries, as these pro-Baghdad forces make plans to take…
www.juancole.com

While Saudi Arabia Goes to War Abroad, It’s Simmering at Home

While Saudi Arabia Goes to War Abroad, It’s Simmering at Home
By Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – To hear Saudi leaders tell it, the primary threat to the kingdom’s stability is the Islamic Republic of Iran.…
www.juancole.com

4 Million Syrian Displaced Abroad: ‘Biggest Refugee Population From a Single Conflict in a Generation’

4 Million Syrian Displaced Abroad: ‘Biggest Refugee Population From a Single Conflict in a Generation’
By Kanya D’Almeida | – – UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – Barely 10 months ago, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the refugee population from Syria had reached the three million mark.…
www.juancole.com

What is terrorism? The Charleston massacre and Palestinian resistance

What is terrorism? The Charleston massacre and Palestinian resistance
By Heike Schotten | (Ma’an News Agency) | – Well before the advent of the US “War on Terror,” Edward Said wrote: “As a word and concept, ‘terrorism’ has acquired an extraordinary…
www.juancole.com

Dirty Energy vs. Clean Power The Past Battles the Future at Seneca Lake

Dirty Energy vs. Clean Power The Past Battles the Future at Seneca Lake
By Ellen Cantarow | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Let’s amend the famous line from Joni Mitchell’s “Yellow Taxi” to fit this moment in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. There,…
www.juancole.com

http://www.thenation.com/…/after-charleston-are-muslim-ame…/

After Charleston, Are Muslim-Americans in the Sights of Islamophobes?
Dylann Roof was indicted on Tuesday by a grand jury for nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. The charges come out of his alleged shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17.
thenation.com

South Carolina removes the Physical Flag: Can it remove the Spiritual Illness of Racial Discrimination?

South Carolina removes the Physical Flag: Can it remove the Spiritual Illness of Racial Discrimination?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The South Carolina legislature has voted to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the statehouse. It was put there in 1961…
www.juancole.com

Amira Hass: “Let me be blunt: Gaza is a Huge Concentration Camp”

Amira Hass: “Let me be blunt: Gaza is a Huge Concentration Camp”
By Amira Hass / Julie Poucher Harbin | (ISLAMICommentary) | – – by JULIE POUCHER HARBIN, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied Territories This past Spring Amira Hass, correspondent…
www.juancole.com

Big Oil, Coal Racketeering: Corp. Memos Reveal Decades of Climate Lies

Big Oil, Coal Racketeering: Corp. Memos Reveal Decades of Climate Lies
Union of Concerned Scientists | (Video Report) | – – “For nearly three decades, many of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies have knowingly worked to deceive the public about the realities…
www.juancole.com

The Rear-View Mirror on Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Bus (Political Cartoon)

The Rear-View Mirror on Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Bus (Political Cartoon)
James MacLeod | (Political Cartoon) Via MacLeod Cartoons
www.juancole.com

Why defeating ISIS with military might is starry eyed idealism

Why defeating ISIS with military might is starry eyed idealism
By David Alpher | (The Conversation) | – – Just this past weekend of July 4, US-led coalition aircraft targeted the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. It was one of the…
www.juancole.com

As Glaciers Melt in Ecuador, Pope Francis challenges Technocrats, touts “Keeping” the Environment

As Glaciers Melt in Ecuador, Pope Francis challenges Technocrats, touts “Keeping” the Environment
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pope Francis continues to preach environmentalism as he addresses crowds in Latin America, a challenging message in poor countries where over-exploitation of natural…
www.juancole.com

No Fish for You! Israeli Navy arrests 6 Gazans for Fishing While Palestinian

No Fish for You! Israeli Navy arrests 6 Gazans for Fishing While Palestinian
By Palestinian Center For Human Rights – PCHR | Gaza Report | – – Israeli Naval Forces Continue Chasing Fishermen In The Gaza Strip Sea On Tuesday morning, 7 July 2015, Israeli…
www.juancole.com

The Confederate Flag flew in Iraq as Symbol of Empire and Militarism (“Valor”)

The Confederate Flag flew in Iraq as Symbol of Empire and Militarism (“Valor”)
By Greg Grandin | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – The Pentagon just can’t let go. In the wake of the Charleston Massacre, Amazon and Walmart have announced that they will no longer sell…
www.juancole.com

“Books, Not Bullets,” Malala Yousafzai Urges at Oslo Summit

“Books, Not Bullets,” Malala Yousafzai Urges at Oslo Summit
By Aruna Dutt | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Nobel Peace Prize laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai spoke Tuesday of her mission to bring 12 years…
www.juancole.com

Desperate Afro-Asian Migrants flee war, famine through risky Balkans on The Road To EU

Desperate Afro-Asian Migrants flee war, famine through risky Balkans on The Road To EU
By Iva Martinovic | (RFE/ RL) | – – These days, the park flanking Belgrade’s bus terminal and the nearby railway station teems with migrants. They are from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, or…
www.juancole.com

Obama: No more US troops to fight Daesh/ ISIL, but more Training

Obama: No more US troops to fight Daesh/ ISIL, but more Training
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Obama on Monday went for a briefing at the Pentagon on the fight against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). In remarks afterwards, he acknowledged…
www.juancole.com

Donald Trump Tries To Backpedal But Can’t Stop Saying Racist Things

Donald Trump Tries To Backpedal But Can’t Stop Saying Racist Things
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks Video) | — “Donald Trump continues putting his foot in his mouth, Trump retweeted something he probably regrets and made hideous comments about Univision. When Trump…
www.juancole.com

California’s Drought Is Part of a Much Bigger Water Crisis. Here’s What You Need to Know

California’s Drought Is Part of a Much Bigger Water Crisis. Here’s What You Need to Know
By Abrahm Lustgarten, Lauren Kirchner and Amanda Zamora | (ProPublica) | — Why do I keep hearing about the California drought, if it’s the Colorado River that we’re “killing”? Pretty much every…
www.juancole.com

Daesh/ ISIL Marked Women and Children for Death in Syria’s Kobani

Daesh/ ISIL Marked Women and Children for Death in Syria’s Kobani
Human Rights Watch | (New York) — Armed militants believed to be members of Islamic State, also known as ISIS, deliberately targeted people they knew were civilians in a June 25, 2015,…
www.juancole.com

Security Zones Being Used to Further Expand West Bank Settlements

Security Zones Being Used to Further Expand West Bank Settlements
By IMEMC | – – “Land confiscated from Palestinians for the purpose of security buffer zones around illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank is actually being utilized as “land reserves or…
www.juancole.com

stylish noir electronic-music video: "Throwing Snow," Linguis https://vimeo.com/132670842

Is Greece’s “No” on Debt Referendum another Youth Revolution?

Is Greece’s “No” on Debt Referendum another Youth Revolution?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – During the past 5 years, the old categories of politics– left, right, center or capitalist and socialist– have been challenged by a new…
www.juancole.com

To fight Climate Change, we have to Eat Fewer Hamburgers

To fight Climate Change, we have to Eat Fewer Hamburgers
By Dora Marinova and Talia Raphaely | (The Conversation) | – – Climate change is the greatest challenge to human health, according to the recent Lancet Commission report which calls for action…
www.juancole.com