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Archives: July 2015
Revealed: The private firms tracking terror targets at heart of US drone wars
By Abigail Fielding-Smith and Crofton Black | (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) | - - The overstretched US military has hired hundreds of private sector contractors in the heart of its drone…
Is our Fossil Fuel addiction setting even our wettest Rainforests Ablaze?
Subhankar Banerjee | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - The wettest rainforest in the continental United States had gone up in flames and the smoke was so thick, so blanketing, that you could see…
Israeli squatter-terrorists kill Palestinian toddler, injure 4 after setting their Home Ablaze
Ma'an News Agency | - - NABLUS (Ma'an ) -- Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian toddler and injured four others early Friday morning after settling their home ablaze in the village of…
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Man Allegedly Stabs 6 At Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade
By IMEMC | - - An ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed six Gay Pride marchers in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, in a repeat of a 2005 attack for which he served 10 years…
Turkey opens up old wounds with a new campaign against the PKK
By Cengiz Gunes | (The Conversation) | - - The recent surge of violence in Turkey following the massacre of socialist activists in Suruc has brought Turkey perilously close to an all-out…
Amnesty Visualizes Israeli War Crimes on anniversary of Gaza Black Friday
AJ+ | (Video Report) | - "A joint study by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture reconstructs Israel's four-day bombardment of the city of Rafah in Gaza." AJ+ "Amnesty Report Visualizes Israel's War…
Bernie Sanders launches “Political Revolution” w/ 100K Virtual House Partiers
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Bernie Sanders spoke from a house party in Washington, D.C., to supporters gathering in 3500 homes and other locations around the country in groups ranging from…
White Male News: As US Diversifies, Newsrooms Lag
By Nora Happel | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Although the United States as a whole is becoming more ethnically diverse, newsrooms remain largely dominated by white,…
Israel to put 300 more Squatter Homes in West Bank, Palestine asks UN to Intervene
Ma'an News Agency | - - RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The PLO and Palestinian presidency on Wednesday strongly criticized an announcement by Israel to approve 300 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank.…
Has Iran cut off Hamas? Is Hamas turning to Saudi Arabia?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Newsweek is reporting that Iran has cut off funding to Hamas in Gaza, citing Israeli journalism and Hamas sources. Iran's relationship with the…
Israelis who illegally squatted on Palestinian land in West Bank Sneak back in
AFP | (Video report) | - - "Several hundred people on Tuesday illegally re-entered the former Sa-Nur settlement in the northern West Bank after being expelled by Israel in 2005." AFP: "Israelis…
Morgan Freeman drops F-Bomb to explain why Iran Deal prevents A-Bomb
Huffington Post | (Video by Morgan Freeman and other Stars) | - - "Allow Jack Black, Morgan Freeman and Queen Noor to explain how important the Iran Nuclear Deal is.." The Huffington…
Did Turkish Pres. Erdogan Make a Historic mistake in dumping Peace Process with Kurds?
by **JULIE POUCHER HARBIN, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary, with KUBILAY YADO ARIN UPDATE ON TUESDAY JULY 28: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Ankara could not continue the peace process with…
Iran Deal: The Calculus of Power in the Mideast just Changed Forever
By Peter Van Buren | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - Don't sweat the details of the July nuclear accord between the United States and Iran. What matters is that the calculus of power…
Turkish Tanks Shell Syrian Kurds who expelled ISIL from Zur Maghar
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Syrian Kurds and the British based Syrian Observatory said Monday that Turkish tanks had shelled the village of Zur Maghar near Kobani on…
New Poll: Bernie Sanders Leads All Republican Front Runners including Trump
Thom Hartmann | (Video Report) | - - Bernie Sanders, who doesn't play to the cheap seats, is racking up incredible poll numbers. Zaid Jilani at Alternet reports on a just-out CNN…
Yemen: Saudi & Coalition guilty of War Crimes for Bombing Civilians: HRW
Human Rights Watch | - - (Sanaa) – Saudi-led coalition airstrikes that killed at least 65 civilians, including 10 children, and wounded dozens in the Yemeni port city of Mokha on July…
Ban real-life Terminator Robots! So say Hawking, Wozniak, Musk, Chomsky
Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk, Noam Chomsky and dozens of others have signed an open letter at The Future of Life Institute urging that autonomous killer robots be banned before they're…
After Vienna, Arabs, Israel seek massive conventional Arms Deals: US ready to Sell
By Thalif Deen | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The nuclear agreement concluded last week between Iran and six big powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, is…
Jerusalem: Ultra-Right Israelis again invade Aqsa Mosque compound; UN condemns provocation
Ma'an News Agency | - - JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Right-wing Israelis broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday for the second day in a row, as the UN expressed concern over…
Top Six Signs ISIL/ Daesh is Doomed
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - It has been over a year since Mosul fell to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). In some ways the organization has continued to make advances…
Trying to out-Trump Trump, Huckabee goes all Holocaust on Obama’s Iran Deal
CBSN | (Video News Report) | "After weeks of controversial remarks, GOP primary candidate Donald Trump is still leading in the polls while other candidates like Mike Huckabee are stepping up their…
Syria Civil War leaves Civilians with Water Cut-offs, Raw Sewage in Rivers
By Kanya D'Almeida | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Caught in the grips of a summer heat-wave, in a season that is seeing record-high temperatures worldwide, residents…
Jerusalem: Israeli forces, extremist Jews, storm Aqsa mosque compound
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces broke into Al-Aqsa mosque compound Sunday morning firing stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets at Muslim worshipers as they cleared way for right-wing Jews who were visiting…
Turkey’s new “war on terror” mainly targeting Kurds
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - What was at first announced as a new Turkish turn toward attacks on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Friday has quickly become largely a…
Is this how the Establishment takes down Outsiders like Bernie Sanders?
Thom Hartmann | (Video report) | - - "Thom Hartmann shares about media coverage of a new Quinnipiac poll, but the coverage leaves out some important information. Why? because Bernie is an…
Climate Change Dunnit: The Case of the missing Woolly Mammoths
By Chris Turney and Alan Cooper | (The Conversation) | - - Imagine a world populated by woolly mammoths, giant sloths and car-sized armadillos – 50,000 years ago more than 150 types…
Iraqis Divided on Iran Deal: Sunnis say, “The US sold us to Iran”
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - While the rest of the world debates the merits of the Iranian nuclear deal, Iraqis are arguing about it too: Did the US…
Obama Walks Fine Line in Kenya on LGBTI Rights
By Aruna Dutt | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS, Jul 25 2015 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Nairobi at the end of a two-day visit Saturday,…
Obama in Kenya: Why the Horn of Africa Matters to Geopolitics
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - President Obama's visit to Kenya is of course personal, though he has been there before both as a civilian and as a senator.…
Young Protesters Languish in Jail under Egypt’s Military Counter-Revolution
By Nelly Bassily | ( openDemocracy) | - - Yara Sallam is starting the second year of her sentence in Qanater Women's prison outside Cairo. She says, "I do not feel any…
White non-terrorist La. Cinema Shooter Loved Hitler, Hated Liberals
John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore, Jayar Jackson, Michael Shure | (The Young Turks Video) | - - "A day after the shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana we now know a little about shooter John…
Why the Arab Gulf Oil Monarchies should Welcome Iran Deal
By Miriam R Lowi | (Via al-Araby al-Jadeed ) | - - Gulf states, long-time rivals of Tehran, should seize the opportunities for regional peace and security offered by the historic deal,…
After Israeli Attack, 50% Gaza Children have PTSD, 70% have regular Nightmares
By IMEMC | - - Gaza Community Mental Health Program’s (GCMHP) Deputy Director General for Professional Affairs Taysir Diab Thursday said around 51% of Gaza’s children and 31% of its adults suffer…
Turkey enters war on ISIL w/ airstrikes: Does AKP Fear losing Snap Election?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Turkey at long last entered the struggle against Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) on Thursday. It gave the US Air Force permission to bomb sites…
Michigan Town Fears ISIL Summer Camp In Their Backyard
John Iadarola, Hannah Cranston, Jimmy Dore | (The Young Turks Video) | - - "A Michigan town has blocked one of their Muslim residents from building a summer camp, for fear that…
As GOP fumes re: Iran, Russia & China are outflanking West with New Eurasia Silk Road
By Pepe Escobar | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Let’s start with the geopolitical Big Bang you know nothing about, the one that occurred just two weeks ago. Here are its results:…
Israel’s Netanyahu & Iran: Even former Intel Officials think he’s Unhinged
By Jeffrey Rudolph | (Detailed Political Quizzes) | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be taken seriously when he talks about Iran. While Netanyahu is a master at exploiting fear in a…
One Ring to Bind them: Reading the Lord of the Rings to defeat ISIL
By Akil N Awan | (The Conversation) | - - The wave of recent attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and Turkey, all apparently linked to Islamic State in some way, have reinforced the…
Actually, Oldest Qur’ans are in Sanaa, Yemen & in Danger of Saudi Bombing
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | The discovery of a couple pages [apparently actually 18] of a very old Qur'an (the Muslim scripture), probably from the 640s CE ["AD"], in a…
Turkish Gov’t Worries about Kurdish, Leftist Mobilization after Bombing, briefly bans Twitter
BBC | (Video News Report) | - - "In Turkey authorities have blocked access to Twitter in a bid to prevent the broadcast of images of the suicide bomb attack in the…
The Earth is hotter this Year than any since Records began
By Kanya D'Almeida | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - According to new data released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Tuesday, globally averaged temperatures…
Sandra Bland: Could training Police in Conflict Resolution instead of Force have Saved Her?
By Megan Price | (The Conversation) | - - The disturbing video released earlier this week of the stop and arrest of Sandra Bland highlights once again the excessive and inexcusable use…
Israeli forces destroy 450 olive trees, Roman-era well in Hebron, Palestine
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday destroyed 450 olive trees, leveled land, and demolished a Roman-era water well in the village of Beit Ula in northwestern Hebron, after claiming the Palestinian…
Are Arab Oil Monarchies divided over Iran Deal?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In recent years it has faced…
15 Feet within 50 Yrs? Study finds alarming acceleration in sea level rise
Charlie Rose | (CBS News Video) | - - "Higher sea levels could lead to stronger hurricanes, tornadoes and thunderstorms, causing major problems for coastal cities. CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports…
On Edge over Syria, Kurdish issues, Turkey tense after horrific Bombing
By Cengiz Gunes | (The Conversation) | - - Islamic State appears to have stepped up its war with the Kurds by bombing a meeting of socialist activists as they gathered in…
Is the ISIS War About Oil After All?
By Jack Werner | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - The unfolding intervention against the Islamic State shows that oil doesn't just guide U.S. foreign policy. It constrains our ways of…
Can Marijuana heal Broken Bones?
Nik Zecevic and Margaret Howell | (TheLipTV) | - - "Marijuana helps broken bones heal faster, according to a study which also found that bones treated with marijuana were stronger and less…
Requiem for the Home Front: Before War was Covert & Elite
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - Almost three quarters of a century ago, my mother placed a message in a bottle and tossed it out beyond the waves. It bobbed…
Terrorist kills 31 at Socialist Rally for Kobane in Turkey
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - According to Alarabiya, on Monday a young woman aged 18 detonated a suicide bomb belt at a socialist youth rally in Suruç, Turkey,…
Security Council Defies GOP, AIPAC on Hill by Approving Iran Nuke Deal
By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - When all 15 members of the Security Council raised their collective hands to unanimously vote in favour of…
Israel: Security Forces Abuse Palestinian Children: Chokeholds, Beatings, Coercive Interrogations
Human Rights Watch | - - (Jerusalem) – Israeli security forces have used unnecessary force to arrest or detain Palestinian children as young as 11. Security forces have choked children, thrown stun…
What can World History teach us about Cooperating against Global Climate Challenge?
By Adrian Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - It is ironic, perhaps, but writing a world history, which involves telling hundreds of stories, makes one realize how few truly significant stories…
As the Iraqi Army takes on ISIL in al-Anbar: How did we get here?
Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - Last week the Iraqi government announced that it would be commencing operations to retake Ramadi, the capital of the vast western province of…
Iraqi Government halts al-Anbar Campaign over Sectarian Fears, US Pressure
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Kuwaiti press (al-Siyasah) is alleging that the Iraqi government, under American pressure, has hit the pause button on its campaign to take…
Jaw-dropping: Surfer fights off shark attack live on TV in S. African competition
RT | (Video Report) | - - "Courtesy of World Surf League (WSL): www.worldsurfleague.com Professional Australian surfer Mick Fanning had a huge scare as his board was attacked by a shark during…
Yemen: As Aden Falls to pro-Saudi forces, Focus now on Taiz
Natasha Ghoneim | (Aljazeera English Video report) "Houthi fighters in Yemen have fired artillery shells into the port city of Aden.The latest casualty count in the shelling is more than 40 dead…
Are the Courts the next decisive Arena of Climate Activism?
By Emily Schwartz Greco | (Foreign Policy in Focus/ Otherwords) People from Seattle to Fiji are filing lawsuits over global warming — and they just might have a case. Climate action is…
Did Daesh/ ISIL just hit Hamas in Gaza with Car Bombs?
Ma'an News Agency | - - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Five car bombs targeting the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad went off in near-simultaneous blasts on Sunday morning in the…
Trump Swiftboats McCain the Way W. Swiftboated John Kerry
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The chickens of 2004 have come home to roost in the Republican Party. The Republican strategists around George W. Bush in that year…
On ‘Death Road’: Women, Civilians Flee ISIL Extremists in Iraq & Syria
By Shalaw Mohammed | Kirkuk | (Niqash.org) - - As extremists rule harshly and coalition airstrikes hit, there's a mass exodus of civilians out of Hawija. And one of the ways they…
Why don’t we fear Climate Change as we do Nat’l Security Threats? The Terrorism of Coal & Oil
The Tree | - - Intro Climate change threatens international security and its risks should be assessed the same way as those of nuclear weapons proliferation and terrorism, with findings taken directly…
US Right needs to get over Self: Iran Deal is International
By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The single biggest misunderstanding about the nuclear agreement with Iran is that it is a bilateral deal with…
Iran’s Khamenei Praises Nuclear Deal, but slams US Foreign Policy
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's clerical Leader, appeared to be attempting to mollify hard liners on Friday in his Friday prayers addresses. On the…
Images of Climate Change
Gary Braasch | Scientia Productions | (Video Report) | -- Images of Climate Change from Scientia Productions on Vimeo.
The Real Reason Critics Hate The Iran Nuclear Deal
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks Video) | - - "There's something wrong with people's reaction to the Iran nuclear deal. If what they're saying is true then the deal makes no…
Donald Trump’s Secret Weapon in GOP Contest: Fox Cable “News”
By Ben Railton | (The Conversation) | - - With the crowded roster of GOP presidential candidates set to expand to 16 with Ohio Governor John Kasich’s planned July 21 announcement, the…
ICC Prosecutor Ordered to Reconsider Israeli Flotilla Raid
By IMEMC | - - The International Criminal Court on Thursday ordered its chief prosecutor to review a decision not to probe Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, saying…
Iran Deal: Winners & Losers in the Greater Middle East
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The end of most UN and European sanctions on Iran and the likely end of US third party sanctions are shaping how regional…
Muslim-Americans raising $100K to Rebuild burned Black Churches
Nik Zecevik and Margaret Howell | (TheLipTV2 Video) | - - "Respond With Love" a Muslim charity has raised nearly [$90,000] $45,000 to aid black churches that were burned down during the…
Israel orders half of West Bank Palestinian village demolished after Ramadan
Ma'an News Agency | - - HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli authorities ordered the demolition of around half of the homes in a village south of Hebron to be carried out after Ramadan,…
Wars targeting Children: 20 mn Homeless, 300K Conscripted & now Mass Abductions by ISIL
By Beatriz Ciordia | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed…
Chattanooga: Assault Weapons a Security Problem for U.S. (Cole @ Truthdig)
By Juan Cole | (Truthdig) | - - My column is out in Truthdig.com Excerpt: The United States is peculiarly prone to mass killings by people armed with semi-automatic weapons. There is…
The Next Gaza War
By Max Blumenthal | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - "A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable,” declared Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in…
Iran Deal: Why doesn’t US Media interview Real Allies on American Policy?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - So after France and Britain and Germany conducted negotiations with Iran over its civilian nuclear enrichment program alongside the United States, you would…
“The World Has Changed’: Reformist Iranian Press Goes Wild for Vienna Deal
By Mahsa Alimardani | (Global Voices) | - - Almost every front page of Iran's daily newpapers covered the nuclear deal on Wednesday 15 July. Screenshot from www.jaaar.com. Iran's media landscape is…
Teaching tolerance: Five Israeli schools unite Jews and Palestinians
By: Anna Kokko | (Ma'an News Agency) | - - JAFFA (Ma'an) -- Paper lanterns crafted for Ramadan are hanging over the heads of children as they run between a snack table…
Science Reveals Pluto — (Why Can’t we Trust it on Climate Change)?
NASA | (Video Press Conference and Images) | - - "NASA officials and team members of the New Horizons mission to Pluto participate in a news conference featuring release of close-up images…
European Companies poised for Iran Gold Rush but will Hill Keep US Out?
By Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/ RL) Many of the punishing UN, U.S., and EU financial and energy sanctions imposed on Iran in recent years to pressure Tehran to curb its nuclear…
While Americans obsess about ISIL, Rest of World Fears Global Warming
By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The world at large is apparently divided over what constitutes the biggest single threat to human kind: the…
Did rise of Daesh/ ISIL ensure Iran Nuclear Deal?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In Iraq on Tuesday, Iraq militias and the Iraqi military launched a counter-attack on Falluja with the ultimate aim of driving Daesh (ISIS,…
The Netanyahu Effect? Declining Support for 2 State Solution among Israelis, Palestinians
Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) --Support for the two state solution decreased among both Palestinians and Israelis over the past year with just 51 percent of both populations vouching…
Celebrating Bernie Sanders via Stand-Up: He doesn’t Give a —
Francesca Fiorentini | (AJ+ Video) - - "Whether in a speech or an interview, 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has little patience for politicking. This grandpa socialist can't be bought, for better…
Afghanistan: The First Rule of Counter-Insurgency is that it Doesn’t Ever Work
By William R. Polk | (Informed Comment) | - - The people of Afghanistan at least since the time of Alexander the Great had repeatedly and violently demonstrated their determination not to…
Why Exempt Israel? After Iran Deal, Make Middle East a Nuclear Free Zone
By Farhang Jahanpour | (TFF) | - - The announcement of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers is a rare moment in history that gives us hope and provides…
That Time Ronald Reagan opened Iran and Illegally sold Khomeini Weapons
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Reagan administration in the 1980s was buffeted by two policy drives toward Iran. On the one hand, Reagan ally Saudi Arabia supported…
Pushtun Female Commandos Ready to Take on the Taliban
By Ashfaq Yusufzai | (Inter Press Service) | - - PESHAWAR, Pakistan (IPS) - For years, Robina Shah has dreamed of joining the police force. Ever since her father, a police constable,…
Video: Israeli Officer shoots protesting Palestinian Teen, Leaves him to Bleed Out
AJ+ | (Video Report) | - - "17-year-old Mohammed al-Kusbah was killed by an Israeli officer after throwing a rock at a military SUV. The officer claimed his life was in danger,…
Would Iran reformers gain upper hand with UNSC Nuclear Deal?
By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) For Iranian President Hassan Rohani, a nuclear deal with global powers would be a double-edged sword. An agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for…
The Republican Party’s New Coiffure (Political Cartoon)
Paul Jamiol | (Jamiol's World) Via Jamiol's World See also Jamiol's World: The Book
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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."…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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.…
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…
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,…
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…
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,…
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…
The Rear-View Mirror on Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Bus (Political Cartoon)
James MacLeod | (Political Cartoon) Via MacLeod Cartoons
Why defeating ISIL/ Daesh 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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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 state…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Child Labor: A Hidden Atrocity of the Syrian Crisis
By Kanya D'Almeida UNITED NATIONS, Jul 3 2015 (IPS) - In a conflict that has claimed over 220,000 lives and injured a further 840,000 people as of January 2015, it is sometimes…
Iran’s Nuclear Program was A Child Of Washington in the First Place
By Tony Wesolowsky | (RFE/RL) | - - The start of Iran's nuclear program can arguably be pegged to December 8, 1953. It was on that date that U.S. President Dwight D.…
Ghosts of King George III: Top 5 Things that threaten American Independence Today
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The things that irked the residents of the Thirteen Colonies about British rule have reemerged from other quarters to threaten American democracy. The…
Yemen Is Starving, and We’re Partly to Blame
By Chris Toensing | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - 80 percent of people in the Arab world's poorest country are in danger of starving to death under a U.S.-backed blockade…
Syrian Refugees Face Hunger Amidst Humanitarian Funding Crisis
By Zhai Yun Tan | (Inter Press Service) | - - WASHINGTON (IPS) - The United Nations’ food aid organisation, the World Food Programme (WFP), said on Jul. 1 that up to…
If World Refuses to Act on Carbon, Oceans Doomed to ‘Irreversible’ Damage
By Nadia Prupis, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) New study warns, 'any new global climate agreement that does not minimize the impacts on the ocean will be inadequate.' Without "immediate and substantial" reductions…
Your Fourth of July and My Fourth of July
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Revised for the 2010s: Your Fourth of July is invasions and wars. My Fourth of July is the pure sunbeam of peace. Yours is…
The Future of Flying: Purely Solar-Powered Plane lands in Hawaii after taking off from Japan
Euronews | (Video Report) | - - "A solar powered plane has successfully completed a record-breaking five-day nonstop solo flight across the Pacific Ocean. The Solar Impulse is the first aircraft to…
Iraq’s Displaced People are Selling Body Parts For Food
Niqash.org | Sulaymaniyah | - - "Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan suspect that displaced people are selling their kidneys to feed their families. Problem is, they don't know how to stop it because…
Funding For Desperate Palestinian Refugees Under Threat
By Mel Frykberg | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness, who says that unless someone steps in to alleviate the financial crisis facing the U.N. agency, “ it…
Egypt’s Draconian new anti-Terrorism Law threatens freedom of speech, Democracy
Euronews | (Video Report) | - - "Egypt launched airstrikes on Islamist militant targets in the Sinai peninsula killing 23 fighters, the offensive comes a day after deadly clashes in the region."…
It’s the Economy, Stupid!: Tunisia’s fight against Terrorism requires a jobs program for its Youth
By Alexander Martin | (The Conversation) | - - To anyone who has followed Tunisia’s journey since it became a democracy, the horrific events in Sousse were shocking, but not surprising. This…
Donald Trump, Dumpee: Forgetting to use the GOP racial dog-whistle is an Expensive Mistake
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Donald Trump is seeing short-term gains from the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, but his recent behavior will have a fatal…
The Ghost of Soviet Collapse haunts the West: Military Hegemony isn’t what it Used to Be
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - The rise and fall of great powers and their imperial domains has been a central fact of history for centuries. It’s been a sensible,…
50 Egyptian Soldiers, others, Killed in Daesh Sinai Rebellion
Aljazeera International | Video Report | - - "At least 35 people killed as ISIL group attacks police posts in Sheikh Zuweid and El-Arish.Al Jazeera's Omar Saleh reports." At the same time,…
Bernie Sanders’ 10,000-person crowd in Madison biggest of any Candidate so Far
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Democratic Party's left wing is fed up and isn't going to take it any more. Americans in opinion polling overwhelmingly favor the…
Syria: When al-Assad Regime shuts off Internet, State Violence Spikes
By Sarah Myers West | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | - - EFF has noted and protested when authorities deliberately cut off Internet access in times of unrest. As a restraint on the…
Israelis Detain, expel Former Pres. of Tunisia from Gaza Aid Flotilla; he vows to return
By IMEMC | - - Israeli occupation authorities deported to France, late on Monday, former Tunisian president Moncef al-Marzouqi, who took part in Freedom Flotilla III. After intercepting and towing the Gaza…
Daily Show Iraq: Ahmed Albasheer Fights ISIL/ Daesh With Comedy
AJ+ | (Video Report) - - "Every week, millions of people tune in to watch Iraqi comedian Ahmed Albasheer lampoon ISIL on his version of The Daily Show. Here's how he's fighting…
If ISIL had burned down 4 Churches, it would have been Headline News
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Seven African-American churches have burned down in the past week and at least four of these southern Black churches were victims of deliberate…
2 Years after Coup, will Assassination of Egypt’s Att’y General be Pretext for More Repression?
By MariaGloria Polimeno | (The Conversation) | - - Hisham Barakat, Egypt’s most senior prosecutor, has been killed by a car bomb that hit his motorcade in Cairo. The attack came just…
Demonizing as Policy: Washington Elites divided over which state to declare Enemy No. 1
By Michael T. Klare | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - America’s grand strategy, its long-term blueprint for advancing national interests and countering major adversaries, is in total disarray. Top officials lurch from crisis…