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Archives: February 2010
Advice to Climate Scientists on how to Avoid being Swift-boated and how to become Public Intellectuals
Climate Scientists continue to see persuasive evidence of global warming and climate change when they speak at academic conferences, even though, as Andrew Sullivan rightly put it, the science is being 'swift-boated…Ahmadinejad once again fails to call for the annihilation of Israel, despite what you heard on CNN
I saw Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN Friday afternoon. Oren said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had called for the annihilation of Israel, and was therefore speaking…
Taliban Hit 5 Star Hotel, Indian Hostels in Downtown Kabul; 18 Dead, 32 Wounded; Indians Targeted
The Afghan capital was struck by three suicide bombings early Friday morning, beginning at 6:30 am local time. Radio Azadi reports that there were five attackers, who struck in the area near…Al-Maliki’s Polling Shows His Party Getting Nearly 1/3 of Seats in Parliament, with Allawi’s Iraqiya at 1/5
Al-Hayat [Life] reports via AFP Arabic on the poll just released by the National Media Center, which reports to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office. According to this sounding, the major coalitions will…Gates wants Europe to beggar itself on War Expenditures the Way the US Has
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates decries Europe for general anti-war sentiment, unwillingness to beggar itself with expenditures on war.But as far as I can tell, Europe is the world's largest economy…Afghan Senators demand Execution of Foreign Troops; Karzai Usurps Control of Election Watchdog; BlackwaterTraining Scandal
Pajhwok News Agency reports that on Tuesday, the Afghanistan senate deplored the foreign airstrikes that killed 21 innocent civilians in the province of Daikundi on Sunday, and demanded that NATO avoid any…Harvard Professor’s Modest Proposal: Starve the Gazans into Having Fewer Babies
Martin Kramer revealed his true colors at the Herzliya Conference, wherein he blamed political violence in the Muslim world on population growth, called for that growth to be restrained, and praised the…Bombing in Lashkar Gah Kills 7; Karzai Cabinet Denounces NATO over Civilian Deaths; Russia wants Heroin Industry Destroyed
Operation Enduring Freedom is now responsible for the deaths of 1,000 US troops, the bulk of them in Afghanistan. It has now also gone on longer than the Revolutionary War.You have to…Facebook Fan Page
Facebook keeps promising to lift the 5000-friend limit, but has not done it. So my account over there is more or less full. Just to let readers who are interested know that…Five Questions for the Afghan Surge; Or, Getting Past the Hype
Gen. David Petraeus, a straight shooter, admitted on Meet the Press Sunday that the Afghanistan War will take years and incur high casualties.. His implicit defense of President Obama from Dick Cheney…Sunni Party to Boycott Iraq Elections
The LAT reports that the National Dialogue Front, a secular party led by Salih Mutlak, is calling for a boycott of the March 7 parliamentary elections in Iraq. The NDF has 11…Top Russian General: An American Attack on Iran would lead to US Collapse; Wants to Block It; Kremlin Rejects Crippling Sanctions
It appears that, the International Atomic Energy Agency is at least allowing for the possibility that documents allegedly found on a laptop some years ago --but discounted by the US Central Intelligence…Khamenei Again Decries Nukes as Illegal in Islamic Law
The USG Open Source Center monitored Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's speech at the christening of an Iranian destroyer, Jamaran, on Iranian official radio, in which Khamenei again denied that Iran is seeking…Hypocrisy over IRS Bomber
If you hate the US government for collecting taxes from you and are willing to fly a plane into a Federal building, you just might be a terrorist. But, nah, not if…
Haqqani Son Killed in Drone Attack; 2 Taliban Leaders Captured; 4 NATO Troops KIA in Marjah
A US drone strike on N. Waziristan has allegedly killed Muhammad Haqqani, a son of guerrilla leader Jalaluddin Haqqani. The Haqqani network is considered particularly skilled insurgents, and is the faction closes…The Decline of the Israeli Right and the Increasing Desperation of the ‘Anti-Semitism’ Charge
The great divide between liberal Jewish Americans and the Israeli Right has lurked as an issue since the Likud Party first challenged Labor dominance in the late 1970s. It is now coming…
Corporate Media Hype Tea Partiers Way beyond their Actual Significance
Percentage of Americans who favor socialism: 20 Percentage of Americans involved in Tea Party Movement: 11 (Support for Tea Party is also about 12%).Number of mentions of "Tea Party" past month in…
US Intelligence Led to Baradar Capture; Marjah Campaign Slows in Face of Snipers, IEDs
As the Marjah campaign continued in Afghanistan, the LAT reports that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in large part because of US electronic surveillance. It sounds as though…OSC: Afghan Minority Parties Unenthusiastic About Reconciliation with Taliban
The USG Open Source Center analyzes the stances of the parties representing the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazara Shiite minorities in Afghanistan and finds that they reject President Hamid Karzai's plans for reconciliation…Mullah Baradar, No. 2 Man in Old Taliban, Captured by ISI in Karachi
The NYT broke the news that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, with the cooperation of US intelligence, captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar a few days ago. Baradar, the number 2 man in the…
Marines Meet Roadside Bombs, Sniping in Marjah; 12 Civilians Killed in Rocket Attack
In the pincer move of British, US/ NATO and Afghan forces on Marjah in poppy-rich Helmand Province, the Taliban have behaved differently in each area. In the north, as the British approached…Iraqi Appeals Court Upholds Ban on Secular, Nationalist Candidates; Bombings Target Campaign HQs
A string of bombings on Sunday targeted political offices of those parties willing to contest the March 7 parliamentary elections, including secular Sunnis. The violence comes as one more worry in the…Afghanistan Nato operation ‘meets first objectives’
Link BBC News - Afghanistan Nato operation 'meets first objectives'BBC reporting British advance from north, met 'minimum interference' from Taliban.US Marines were brought into Marjah city by helicopter. Four small firefights going…Official Site of We Are The World 25 For Haiti
Link: Official Site of We Are The World 25 For HaitiHere is the official site of the new 'We are the World' video for Haiti. Proceeds go for relief efforts for the…
NATO/ ANA Assault on Marjah; Has the City already Fallen without a Shot?
AFP reports that the joint NATO/ Afghanistan National Army assault force of 15,000 on Friday moved toward the Helmand city of Marjah, at the center of the poppy growing heartland of Helmand…Israel Violates Economic Sanctions Against Iran
Israel Violates Economic Sanctions Against Iran by Grant Smith -- Antiwar.comEconomic sanctions don't produce regime change in and of themselves. They mainly hurt the little people in places like Cuba or Iraq.…Palestinians dressed as ‘Na’vi’ from ‘Avatar
Palestinians dressed as ‘Na’vi’ from ‘Avatar’ join protest against the wall. | MONDOWEISS Courtesy Mondoweiss & the Nation InstituteYeah, but the implication from the film is also that you need some good…
How the Iranian Regime Checkmated the Green Dissidents on a Crucial Day
The opposition press in Iran says that former presidential candidate Mir Hosain Musavi attempted to go to Azadi (Freedom) Square in downtown Tehran on the occasion of the commemoration of 31 years…
Regime Victory on Revolution Anniversary; Opposition Fails to Mobilize
The regime seems to have successfully repressed any significant demonstrations by the opposition on Thursday.One of the problems for the opposition is that it has essentially been mounting 'flashmobs'-- fairly spontaneous demonstrations…Huge Crowds Peacefully Commemorate Islamic Revolution; Some Green protests Reported
Thursday February 11 (22 Bahman of the Iranian calendar) is the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini. This year, the commemoration is fraught with irony, since the…Dubai court annuls marriage to ‘bearded lady’
BBC News - Dubai court annuls marriage to 'bearded lady'This item will be picked up for novelty and curiosity value.But actually, the episode raises all the problems in the philosophy of the…
Real News: Do the Taliban Represent the Pashtuns?
The Real News has a good video series entitled, "Do the Taliban represent the Pashtuns?" This is the sort of information US corporate media almost never supplies. Here is part 1: More…
Mahsud Dead; Marjah Residents Refuse to Flee ahead of Assault
A US and another NATO soldier were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday.On the other side of the border, Pakistani Taliban sources announced that their leader, Hakimullah Mahsud, had died of wounds inflicted…Salehi: Iran would back Down if West supplies LEU; Khamenei vows self-defense against ‘US-backed saboteurs’
The USG Open Source Center translated remarks of Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, regarding Sunday's announcement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran would seek to enrich uranium…
More Nuclear Scaremongering about Iran from Clinton; Neocons Quake at Ahmadinejad threat to make . . . gasp . . . Medical Isotopes
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton engaged in some fearmongering on Iran on Sunday on Candy Crowley's CNN magazine show, State of the Union. Here is how the exchange went:'CROWLEY: If you were…Saying ‘Constitution’ while meaning ‘Lawlessness’: Palin attacks Obama
Sarah Palin's turn before the teabaggers was an exercise in emptying the US Constitution of meaning while seeming to exalt it.She praised US military personnel for defending the constitution.But she complained that…Thousands Flee Marja Area as NATO Prepares Campaign; Anti-American Rally in Kapisa
Agence France Presse reports that thousands of Afghans are fleeing an anticipated NATO/Afghan (mainly British) campaign against the Taliban stronghold of Marja, a city of 80,000, south of the capital of Lashkar…
Undoing Lex Luthor
The red increase in job loss is the climax of Republican White House control. The blue decrease in job loss is Obama and the Democrats. Sort of like when Superman flies around…Reading cuts stress levels by 68%
Reading cuts stress levels by 68% | Health news | Marie ClaireWell now we've solved the difference in approach to the world of Barack Obama and George W. Bush.End/ (Not Continued)40-Day Mourning Sessions targeted by Sunni Radicals in Karbala, Karachi
The 40th day mourning ceremonies after the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) in 680 CE was marred by bombings in both Iraq and Pakistan.…Informed Comment Poll: Should US Troops be in Pakistan?
End/ (Not Continued)Michael Schwartz, Will Iraq’s Oil Ever Flow? | TomDispatch
Tomgram: Michael Schwartz, Will Iraq's Oil Ever Flow? | TomDispatchSociologist Michael Schwartz, a sharp Iraq-watcher and author of a provocative book on the Iraq War, surveys the travails of Iraq's oil industry…
Al-Maliki Gov’t Appeals Reinstatement of Candidates, Calls Special Session of Parliament
Iraqi politics and the conduct of the March 7 elections has been thrown into turmoil by the reversal on Wednesday by a judicial appeals panel of the exclusion of over 500 candidates…
Sophisticated Taliban Bombing, Deaths of 3 US Troops, Embarrasses Zardari Government by Revealing US Troop Presence on Ground in Pakistan
The fragile Pakistani government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asaf Ali Zardari was deeply embarrassed Wednesday when a massive bombing killed 3 US soldiers on the ground in that…Was US-Iran rivalry Driving the Exclusion of Candidates in Iraq? Was Allawi the Target?
I am going to speculate a little today, but I am hoping it is informed speculation. I think an end-game drama is playing out in Iraq between the United States and Iran,…Could Thomas Jefferson’s DNA Trail Reveal Middle-Eastern Origins?
Could Thomas Jefferson's DNA Trail Reveal Middle-Eastern Origins?Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Jefferson clan in the British Isles may have descended from a Phoenician merchant family that set up a…
56 Killed, 144 Wounded in Suicide Bombing of Shiite Pilgrims in Baghdad
AFP Arabic reports that a female suicide bomber detonated her payload in a tent in northeast Baghdad (Bub al-Sham) among pilgrims walking to the Shiite holy city of Karbala, killing 56 and…The News alleges US drones killed 123 civilians, three al-Qaeda men in January; Other Sources categorize some ‘Civilians’ as Militants
US drones killed 123 civilians, three al-Qaeda men in JanuaryThe Pakistani newspaper, The News alleges that:"Afghanistan-based US predators carried out a record number of 12 deadly missile strikes in the tribal areas…