Month

Archives: November 2012

Palestinian Legal strategy against Israel: The Real Prize is Europe

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to accord Palestine the status of "Observer State" on Thursday, with 138 countries voting in favor of the measure, 41 abstaining, and only 9 voting…

Israeli Reaction to UN Vote: Politicians Burn Palestinian Flag, Pundits fear International Criminal Court

The USG Open Source Center translates Hebrew press reports and reaction in Israel to the UN bestowal of "Observer State" status on the Palestinians, including an item about two Israeli members of…

In Rebuke to Obama, Netanyahu– Much of Western Europe to Support Palestine as UN Observer State

The confidence scam that Israel and the United States have been running on the Palestinians, of a "peace process," is finally about to meet a well-deserved demise. There are now over 600,000…

AP Punked on Iran by Junk Science Graph (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

Yousaf Butt and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress write at The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: This week the Associated Press reported that unnamed officials "from a country critical of Iran's nuclear program" leaked an…

Machowski: We’re already at War with Iran, though Ayatollahs have not decided to Weaponize Nukes (Video)

Matthew Machowski, current Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary, University of London and an experienced Middle East analyst gives the best talk on Iran's nuclear enrichment…

Obama’s Lawless Drones have caused Yemen al-Qaeda to Triple (Young Turks)

Cenk Uygur on the scandal of the Obama administration's admission that it had no clear criteria for drone strikes. According to the NYT, the Obama team scrambled to come up with formal…

Egypt Polarized as 200,000 Tahrir demonstrators and Crowds in other Cities protest Morsi’s “Temporary Dictatorship”

On Wednesday morning, in the wake of a huge demonstration downtown Cairo, the crowds assembled in Tahrir Square faced tear gas barrages whenever they moved out of the center of the square.…

Tea Party Congress Biggest Obstacle to the Electric Car (Granholm)

Jennifer Granholm's War Room guests discuss the roadblocks in the way of a major new, job-creating industry in the US, the electric vehicle. The Tea Party Congress almost closed down the government…

Syria Charged Turkey with “Air Piracy,” New Documents Say (Schoofs and Larson)

Mark Schoofs and Jeff Larson write at ProPublica:Documents posted online Monday by hackers associated with the online group Anonymous appear to give new details on a Syrian passenger flight from Moscow to…

Gaza in Rubble, and Slim hopes for Peace (Abdel Kouddous)

Sharif Abdel Kouddous on Gaza’s "Severe Damage" and Why Truce Won’t Stop the Violence of Occupation at Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" The blurb from the show: Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip…

Tom Ricks finally Tells Fox News (“GOP TV”) off on the Phony Benghazi “Issue”

Pulitzer Prize-winning war journalist Tom Ricks was brought on Fox Cable News to discussion Susan Rice and the so-called Benghazi affair. His retort that Fox has been functioning as 'a wing of…

Let the Palestinians have their “Kaf-Tet Be’November” (Sternfeld)

Lior Sternfeld writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: On November 29, 1947 the UN general assembly granted the Zionist movement one of its most prominent diplomatic achievements, when it approved…

Bigger than the IT Revolution: Solar is Going to Electronics Firms, Energy Giants Left Behind (Video)

Excellent documentary on the fast-breaking solar technology revolution. From www.vpro.nl/ backlight.

Egypt Constitutional Crisis: Morsi to Meet Judges as Weekend Clashes leave Two Dead, hundreds wounded

Egypt is on the knife edge between plunging into Algeria-style faction-fighting between secularists and Muslim fundamentalists, and finding a graceful way for its elected president to climb down from his more extreme…

The Insouciance of Cardplayers (Egypt Protest Video)

Youth try to play cards in the midst of demonstrations and clashes between leftists and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and seem really devoted to their game.

Sand-Surfing Fun in the Arabian Desert (Video)

Steep sand-surfing:

Israeli Vets on Israeli Treatment of Gaza & Palestinians: “It’s Mostly Punishment” (Breaking the Silence)

The authors of Our Harsh Logic, Israeli veterans who protest the treatment of Palestinians via an organization, "Breaking the Silence," write at Tomdispatch.com: "It’s Mostly Punishment…” Testimonies by Veterans of the Israeli…

Egypt: Judiciary, Political Rivals, Crowds Mobilize against Pres. Morsi

The executive order issued by President Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party last Thursday has thrown the country into substantial turmoil, with demonstrations, clashes and civil strikes throughout…

RT’s Abby Martin Accuses Israel of War Crimes for Targetting Journalists

Abby Martin of Russia Today's Brainwash Update pointed out that Israel's targeting of Gaza media centers, which killed journalists and endangered employees of many news organizations, was a war crime. (She was…

Egyptian Left/Liberals Confront Pres. Morsi with Rallies, Demos in 8 Provinces

The New Left youth movements led a powerful charge against Thursday's presidential decree by Muhammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood's civil wing, the Freedom and Justice Party. Protests were held at some…

Americans and Egyptians face the National Security State on Black Friday Differently

Americans face an erosion of the rights they fought for in their revolution (checks and balances on executive power, right to privacy from government snooping, right to due process, right to have…

Morsi’s Second Coup Provokes Mass Protest in Egypt

Egypt's president Muhammad Morsi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's civil wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, issued a wide-ranging set of decrees on Thursday that greatly enhanced his power and would have…

Top Ten Steps that are Necessary for Lasting Gaza-Israel Peace (or, Good Luck!)

1. The Israeli blockade on Gaza exports and non-military imports must be lifted altogether. Ben White points out that the restrictions on goods brought into Gaza via Israel are still very substantial,…

Gaza Truce Declared (Jamiol Cartoon)

Courtesy Jamiol's World

Morsi Emerges as Key Power Broker in Gaza Conflict

Egypt's President Muhammad Morsi, a member of the same Muslim Brotherhood that gave birth to Palestine's Hamas movement, has emerged as a key broker in the Gaza crisis. President Obama is said…

Gaza: Israeli Rightists Propose Cutting Water, Electricity, but oppose ground op (OSC)

The USG Open Source Center summarizes the Israeli press on the inadvisability of a ground assault on Gaza, and right-wing suggestions for alternatives such as cutting off water and electricity to the…

Cole on Gaza Crisis (Granholm, Current TV Interview)

Jennifer Granholm of Current TV's "War Room" (10 pm ET) interviewed me on Gaza:

Gaza’s Health Crisis and Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity

Israeli air strikes for the past 6 days have killed over 100 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them women and children; one strike deliberately targeted a media building that Israeli government knew…

Live report from Gaza, attacks on Journalists (Democracy Now!)

From Democracy Now! - a live report from a Gaza hospital The blurb for the show: We get a live report from independent journalist Mohammed Omer from a hospital in Gaza City,…

Could a Gaza Land War lose the Middle East for America?

Abd al-Ra'uf Arna'ut writes in the PLO newspaper al-Ayyam (The Days) that behind the scenes, the Obama administration and its European allies are exerting enormous pressure on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu…

Blaming Gen. Petraeus for the Wrong Mistakes: Remembering Afghanistan (Cook)

Regular readers know that I have been critical of Gen. Petraeus's counterinsurgency doctrine because I found it unrealistic, and I wish the US had just withdrawn militarily from Afghanistan in 2002. Lt.…

Winning the war on Fracking would be the biggest Victory of All (Cantarow)

Ellen Cantarow writes at Tomdispatch: There’s a war going on that you know nothing about between a coalition of great powers and a small insurgent movement. It’s a secret war being waged…

Palestinians say Israel trying to Silence Media, by Attacking Journalists

The USG Open Source Center translates articles from the Arabic on the Israeli attack on newspapers and journalists in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians Say Israel Trying To Silence Media Following Attack on…

Iran Sanctions may be ‘Crippling,’ but they are not ‘Working’ (Cher)

Ladan Cher writes in a guest column for Informed Comment On Iran and sanctions, a necessary clarification: “Crippling” is not synonymous for “working” In the tug-of-war between Iran and the United States,…

Top Ten Myths about Israeli Attack on Gaza

1. Israeli hawks represent themselves as engaged in a 'peace process' with the Palestinians in which Hamas refuses to join. In fact, Israel has refused to cease colonizing and stealing Palestinian land…

If You are 27 or younger, you’ve never lived through a colder than average month (Bump)

Paul Bump at Grist points out that The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on global temperatures in October 2012 as follows: "The average temperature across land and ocean surfaces during October…

Palestinian Civilians imperiled as 500 Israeli Strikes hit Gaza (Democracy Now!)

Democracy Now! report: ""Nowhere to Run": Israel Fires Over 500 Strikes in Gaza, Civilian Toll Grows in Humanitarian Crisis From the transcript: "MOHAMMED OMER: You’re welcome, Amy. Well, let me start with…

Top Ten True costs of BP Gulf Oil Spill

BP yesterday agreed to pay a fine of some $4.5 billion dollars from the US Department of Justice for malfeasance in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest fine paid in…

Candidate for CIA Chief Jane Harman Advocated Ethnic Breakup of Iran

CNN lists former California representative Jane Harman, now head of the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., as a potential successor to Gen. David Petraeus as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. This…

Wagging the Dog in Gaza: Netanyahu’s Skirmish of Fear (Sternfeld)

Lior Sternfeld writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Israel has embarked, with its Gaza attack, on the all-too-well-known elections routine. Before the 2009 elections, the defense minister, Ehud Barak, who…

Noam Chomsky on Gaza (Democracy Now!)

At Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, Noam Chomsky discusses his recent trip to the Gaza Strip: Here is DM's blurb for the piece: World-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and MIT professor Noam Chomsky…

The Arab Reading of the Petraeus/Allen Affair: Jill Kelley is Gilberte Khawam, a Lebanese

The headlines about the Petraeus affair in the Arab world this morning almost universally read something like "Lebanese woman brings down CIA." The woman who seems to have destroyed three careers and…

Why did the Press Mythologize Gen. Petraeus in the first place?: Michael Hastings @ Piers Morgan

Journalist Michael Hastings asks some quick, sharp questions about press deference to power. Hastings is the author of The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan

Afghanistan Commander Gen. John Allen Investigated; Meanwhile, Afghanistan sinking

The emails to Jill Kelly of Gen. John Allen, US commander in Afghanistan and a friend of ex-CIA chief David Petraeus, are being investigated as possibly inappropriate. Meanwhile, actual Afghans face a…

The Tesla S and World Peace: Can American Green Energy End the Gulf Oil Wars?

Petroleum makes the world go round, with 70% of it used to power automobiles. About a fifth of the world's 90 million barrels a day of oil production comes out of the…

Juan Cole: Real Petraeus Failure Was Counter-Insurgency in Iraq, Afghanistan (Democracy Now!)

Here is Amy Goodman's interview with me, which was broadcast on Democracy Now! This morning. Via YouTube here Here is DN's lead-in: CIA director David Petraeus has resigned following revelations of an…

Drone, Sanctions affecting Medicine, Intensify US-Iran Tensions

Among President Obama's first decisions after his reelection was to further increase already severe sanctions on Iran. Just before that, Iran shot at a US drone it claims was spying on Iranian…

Bradley Manning would Cop to Wikileaks if Spying, Aiding Enemy charges are Dropped (DemocracyNow!)

Mirrored from DemocracyNow! Accused U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning has offered to submit a partial guilty plea on charges of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks in return for the government agreeing to…

Tracking down Mubarak’s Ill-Gotten Gains (Loveluck)

Louisa Loveluck writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism In Egypt’s Tahrir Square, the vast fortune of Hosni Mubarak and his inner circle was also a focal point of resentment. Previous estimates…

On Malala Day, Pakistani Girls chant “I am Malala”

Pakistan, and people around the world, commemorated yesterday as "Malala Day", in honor of Malala Yusufzai, who was shot in the head by a Taliban militant for demanding the right of girls'…

Companies are Mining your Facebook/ Twitter Info… and Selling it (Beckett)

Lois Beckett writes at ProPublica Yesterday, we got a rare look at how information on your public social media profiles—including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn—is being harvested and resold by large consumer data…

Real Petraeus Issue was Evaluation of Afghanistan

Maybe it is because I was brought up in part in Europe, but I just cannot understand American puritanism's obsession with public officials' private lives. I can't see that most private issues…

Can Afghan Troops Hold the Line as US Withdraws, and Will US Seek to Stay in Central Asia?

Aljazeera English does what so few US networks are bothering to do: It sends a correspondent to cover the take-over of forward operating bases in Afghanistan by the Afghanistan National Army from…

Karl Rove’s Math that mades Republicans Feel Better until Reality Set In (Daily Show Video)

Jon Stewart skewers the fantasyland in which Fox Cable Mews guests seem to live in, in which Mitt Romney was headed for a landslide despite all the polling that showed otherwise. He…

Karl Rove’s Regret (Jamiol Cartoon)

From Jamiol's World

America’s Coming Space Wars (McCoy)

Alfred W. McCoy writes at Tomdispatch.com Beyond Bayonets and Battleships Space Warfare and the Future of U.S. Global Power It’s 2025 and an American “triple canopy” of advanced surveillance and armed drones…

Why Bill O’Reilly is Wrong about Minorities ‘Wanting Things” & the Election

Bill O'Reilly set the frame for an "angry white male" understanding of the bath Mitt Romney took at the polls Tuesday night, even before it was entirely clear to Fox Cable News…

Top Ten Wish List Progressives should Press on President Obama

President Obama's reelection should mean more to progressives than simply dodging the bullet of a Romney presidency indebted to the Tea Party. Democratic politics has to be more than relief, while playing…

Combining Wind Power And Electric Vehicles In Denmark (Video)

On one of Denmark's islands, locals are running their electric cars in some part off wind energy. This kind of arrangement is the only viable future for humankind.

Four Middle East crises will face the next President Immediately

American politics is mainly about domestic issues, and the presidential election season has caused a sort of black out of international news on US networks for the most part. But the planet…

Our way-too-Supersized Elections: Engelhardt on BillMoyers.com (Video)

From BillMoyers.com: "Tom Engelhardt on Supersized Politics in the 2012 Election November 5, 2012 If we’ve learned anything from the 2012 race, it’s that American politics have gotten way out of our…

Top Ten Coming Disasters: Romney’s America 2016

What will the United States look like in 2016 if Mitt Romney wins? While predicting the future is of course impossible, actually my experience is that if you play out known possible…

Romney: “Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of Iran War” (Goulka)

Jeremiah Goulka writes at Tomdispatch: The Dogs of War Are Barking: Mitt Romney’s Team Wants to Let 'Em Loose in Iran It’s the consensus among the pundits: foreign policy doesn’t matter in…

Romney-Ryan: The Real Death Panel (Jamiol Cartoon)

By Paul Jamiol, Jamiol's World

How US Drone Assassinations all Began (Woods)

Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) usually gets all the credit for the first US drone targeted killing beyond the conventional battlefield. But it…

Comedian Chris Rock: Obama is the Great White Hope

Comedian Chris Rock: argues that voters looking for a truly white presidential candidate need look no further than Barack Obama.

Abdel Nasser Jokes about Outrageous Muslim Brotherhood Demand that all Women Veil

Then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser tells anecdotes (early 1960s?) about his meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood and their demand that he make all Egyptian women wear headscarves in public. How much…

Republicans Tip world off to covert CIA Role in Libya

The politicization by the Republican Party of the tragic attack on the US consulate in Benghazi has been a security disaster for the United States. A document dump by Congressman Darrell Issa…

Koshik the Elephant speaks Korean

Scientists in South Korea have taught Koshik the elephant what sounds like a few words of Korean.

Iran still Suffers from the illegal Diplomatic Hostage-Taking of 1979 (Azad)

Armin Azad writes in a guest column for Informed Comment For more than three decades, there has been a government-organized demonstration in front of the former US Embassy in Tehran on November…

Analysis: How Washington Post strips casualties from covert drone data (Woods)

Chris Woods writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Analysis: How Washington Post strips casualties from covert drone data The Washington Post: is it telling the whole story? Alongside the Washington Post’s…

US backs away from Syrian National Council

The Syrian opposition appears split on American intervention to shape its leadership. The Syrian revolution is a grassroots affair, with hundreds of small groups on the ground, some of them neighborhood associations,…

Laughing Camels are the Best

Laughing camel being tickled.

NYC Hospitals Lose Power Once; in Gaza, it is a Constant Crisis

Hurricane Sandy knocked out electricity to New York University's Langone Hospital, which had to evacuate its patients. Bellevue Hospital also had to be cleared and the patients sent elsewhere. This story is…

NASA Scientist: We face a Planetary Climate Emergency

NASA scientist James Hansen explains that we are facing a planetary emergency and that the public is still largely unaware of how menacing it is. The danger is that we could pass…

Tired of Bronco Bama & Mitt Romney: Sensible but Cranky Little Girl in Colorado (video)

Colorado mom captures little daughter's frustration with the length of the presidential campaign. Back story here.