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Archives: August 2010
Afghanistan and Paris Hilton’s Purse
US mass media is owned by only five corporations, and all of them have decided that advertising dollars flow to celebrity gossip more than to hard news. I've had cable television news…
Netanyahu Reneges on Freeze
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced his bad faith as he began the first direct talks between Israel and the Palestine Authority in 2 years, implying that he would call off the…
Salt Water, Slow Aid threaten Sindhis Displaced in Pakistan
A new danger to Sindh: the flood waters are meeting and mixing with the salt waters of the Arabian Sea, threatening large tracts of fertile land with being ruined for agriculture for…Wertheim: Modern-day Racism: A Mixture That Calls for Some Clarification
Anne-Ruth Wertheim writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: Modern-day Racism: A Mixture That Calls for Some Clarification Propagators of modern-day racism, which is often called Islamophobia in an effort to…
Another City Submerged as Floods advance in Sindh;
Where are the Rock Stars?
Remember how I said a little after midnight on Sunday that the city of Sujawal, population 250,000, was threatened by advancing flood waters from broken levees in Sindh? Well, just a few…One Million Displaced as Rising Waters Threaten Major Cities
AFP reports that Pakistani troops are on a 'war footing' in their desperate efforts to save the southern Sindhi city of Thatta from advancing flood waters, as they attempt to repair breaches…
Olbermann: Wave of Religious Intolerance Sweeps US
Keith Olbermann and CAIR on the wave of religious intolerance sweeping the US.Glenn Beck’s ‘I have a Dream Speech’
This is the 'I have a Dream Speech' that Glenn Beck would give at the Lincoln Memorial if he were being completely honest. I am not unmindful that some of you have…
Taliban Attack 2 US Bases
Taliban attacked two US forward operating bases on Saturday a day after home-made bombs killed 3 US soldiers. The Afghan Persian press reports that NATO sources say 11 insurgents were killed and…
Another 500,000 Flee Indus Breaches
Taliban threaten Aid Workers;
Global Warming Implicated
The raging, swollen Indus River abruptly breached an embankment in the Thatta district in Sindh, Pakistan, on Wednesday evening, unexpectedly sending flood waters toward the town of Thatta and several others in…Kurashige: The Islamic Center and the “Pearl Harbor” Analogy
Scott Kurashige writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: In May 2007, George W. Bush welcomed Queen Elizabeth II to the White House, hosting a ceremony attended by 7,000 guests followed…Islamophobe Slasher taunted Cabbie with Rightwing Talking Points before Stabbing Him
Amy Goodman interviews a close friend of stabbing victim Ahmad Sharif on Michael Enright's attack on him. Enright asked a lot of questions, including whether Sharif was Muslim and if he was…Maddow on Manhattan Mosque
Rachel Maddow talks to Sohail Khan of the Conservative Inclusion Coalition about the most embarrassing non-Justin Bieber related obsession of today, the rightwing campaign against mosque building in Manhattan. Visit msnbc.com for…64 Dead, 274 Wounded in Iraq War on Police
On Wednesday, the Sunni Arab guerrilla insurgency of Iraq demonstrated it is alive and able to plan and carry out a nation-wide set of terrorist operations. The covert organization set off bombs…
Poison Gas Sickens School Girls in Kabul
What appears to be a Taliban poison-gas attack has sickened 60 girls at a school in Kabul, though most were quickly discharged from hospital and seem to be all right. Aljazeera English…
Nakhai: Bushehr Plant Going Hot
Nuclear engineer Behrad Nakhai writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment A brief overview of Bushehr nuclear power plant startup (Simplified) Finally, nuclear fuel loading of Bushehr nuclear power plant started…Republican National Committee Slashes New York Muslim Cabbie
It wasn't the 21-year-old Michael Enright who drunkenly slashed his New York city cab driver after asking 'Are you Muslim?' It was the Republican National Committee. From August of 2006, the RNC…Matthews Takes Down Lazio over Half-Truths and Scapegoating of Muslims
Chris Matthews of Hardball takes down New York gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio for his scapegoating of Muslims and aggressive, manipulative tactics, suggesting that the meanness is a calculated attempt to come back…Anzalone: From ‘Martyrdom’ Videos to Jihadi Journalism in Somalia
Christopher Anzalone writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment-- which is particularly timely given the bloody attack by fundamentalist gunmen on a Mogadishu hotel, in which they killed 33 persons: From…Stewart: Fox Smears Owner Alwaleed bin Talal!
Jon Stewart points out that Fox News anchors and guests are vilifying Saudi prince and financier Alwaleed bin Talal as a financial backer of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Muslim-American clergyman who…
Bombings Kill 32 in Pakistan NW;
US Drone Strikes Kill 20;
As Floods Advance on Sindh
As Pakistan's army and political elite focused on the catastrophic floods that have put a fifth of the country under water and displaced millions, militants in the mountainous northwest of the country…Cole at CNN: Now the US Should Get out of Iraq’s Politics
My essay, "Now the US should get out of Iraq's Poltics," is now at the CNN web site. Excerpt: "Washington should stop trying to shoehorn its favorite into office, should stop showing…
What would Martin Luther King Say? Mosques and the New Jim Crow in America
The demonstration held on Sunday against the Park 51 Muslim community center in lower Manhattan was an attempt by the right wing to strike at first amendment freedoms, but at the same…From ’shock and awe’ to ‘advise and assist’ in Iraq
My appearance on the PBS current affairs show Need to Know this weekend with Alison Stewart is now available on the Web. I was discussing the present situation in Iraq. Watch the…Dear Rev. Graham: Obama was not born a Muslim and neither is anyone else
Evangelist (and hateful bigot) Franklin Graham said this weekend that President Obama was 'born a Muslim' because, he said, Islam is transmitted through the father just as Judaism is transmitted through the…
Sindh Cities inundated as Flooding continues;
Fears of advances by al-Qaeda
Frenetic efforts to repair a 20 foot breach in the barrage guarding the major Sindhi city of Shahdadkot succeeded in keeping the city from being washed away. As it is, 90% of…Taliban Ambush Kills 30 on Road Crew in Helmand;
60% of Americans Oppose Afghan War
Word is trickling out now about a Taliban attack on workers and security guards that killed some 30 persons and wounded 15 others, while yet others were taken captive. The victims had…Cole on PBS ‘Need to Know’
I'll be interviewed by Alison Stewart on the PBS 'Need to Know' current affairs program on Friday evening in most markets, though the show may be on another day on your PBS…
Iraqis differ in Reactions to US Combat Troops’ Departure
Aswat al-Iraq reports on reactions to the withdrawal of US combat brigades from Iraq in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The head of the Basra Provincial governing council, Jabbar Amin, said…Last US Combat Units withdraw from Iraq
The last US combat convoy left Iraq on Thursday, rather some time after George W. Bush declared an end to combat operations in Iraq in May, 2003. Of course, this flat statement…Bolton was Contradicted by Bush on Iran’s Bushehr Reactor
Former US ambassador and perennial angry old crank John Bolton is so upset about the possibility that Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor will soon go live that he says Israel has a window…59 Dead, 120 Wounded in Iraqi Suicide Bombing;
Iraqi Parties reject US Power Sharing Proposal
The Telegraph reports that 59 persons are dead and 120 wounded in a suicide bombing attack on potential army recruits in Baghdad. There may have been two perpetrators, presumably with bomb belts.…Top Ways Dan Senor Could have avoided offending Iraqi Muslims
Former Bush administration spokesman in Iraq Dan Senor is against the building of a Sufi Muslim community center in lower Manhattan. He says he is concerned that interfaith understanding may be damaged.…Dear Climate Change Deniers
Dear Climate Change Deniers: This summer, Russia, a former icebox, is so hot that it is actually on fire. A third of Pakistan is affected by massive flooding caused by especially hot…
Book of the Day: Midnight on the Mavi Marmara
Book of the Day: Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Moustafa Bayoumi, Editor. Click on the…An Israeli Attack on Iran would reduce Barack Obama to a One-Term President
What should a poor warmongering Neoconservative do? This political grouping includes WASPS such as former CIA director James Woolsey and former UN ambassor John Bolton, but at its core is politically active…
500,000 evacuated from Jacobabad as Floodwaters head toward Sindh
As Pakistan's massive flooding continues, Some 500,000 people have been forced to evacuate the Sindhi city of Jacobabad, suddenly finding themselves homeless. Ordinarily this sort of catastrophe would be news in itself,…Kurdish General Again Insubordinate, Angles for US to Remain in Iraq
The public statement by Iraqi chief of staff Lt. General Babakr Zebari , at a defense conference that the Iraqi army would not be ready to stand on its own until 2020…
6 Million Pakistanis need Immediate Aid as 1/3 of Country is Submerged
I can barely believe the words I am writing are not a nightmare from which I will soon wake up. A third of Pakistan is now under water, and fresh rainfall threatens…Portugal’s Green Energy Revolution and the true Cost of Gas, Coal and Oil
Don't miss Elisabeth Rosenthal's important and well-written piece at NYT on Portugal's energy policy. With remarkable clarity given the potentially technical subject matter, she explains exactly how the Portuguese government went from…Cutting off Aid to the Lebanese Army Hurts US Interests
The Israel lobby in the US Congress is trying to hold up US military assistance to Lebanon after last week's exchange of fire at the border between Israel and Lebanon. Withholding or…
2 Marines Killed, Base Attacked in Afghanistan;
Civilian Surge in Doubt
A prisoner trying to escape a US detention center in southern Afghanistan grabbed a gun and killed two US Marines before being cut down. The two US deaths brought the NATO total…
Pakistan Flooding Threatens Grain Crop
Two million more people have been affected by Pakistan's floods-- 13 million -- than were affected by the 2005 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the Haiti earthquake combined. (The other disasters…Abedin: The Illusion of a ‘limited war’ against Iran
Mahan Abedin writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: The Illusion of a ‘limited war’ against Iran The frank admission by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff…Rudolph: Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz?
Jeffrey Rudolph writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz? Misconceptions about terrorism, regularly promoted by the mainstream media, have facilitated harmful US government actions—two wars,…
12 Million Affected by Pakistan Floods
The horrific flood in Pakistan, the worst in its history, has now destroyed more homes (650,000) than the 2005 earthquake. And, some 12 million Pakistanis, nearly 10 percent of the country's population,…Pentagon Quest for Wikileaks Mirrors Plot of Eisler Thriller
The Pentagon is pressuring wikileaks not only not to release more classified documents about the Afghanistan war but to take down the files already posted.. A reader at reddit.com said that the…
Dispute over Civilian Casualties Roils US-Afghan Relations
Between 4 and 12 civilians were killed by US troops in a nighttime raid in Nangarhar province on Wednesday, NATO admitted today. Nangarhar has repeatedly been the scene of public protests against…Mosque Building and Gay Marriage vs. Mob Rule by the Right
The decision of a US district court to strike down Proposition 8, the California referendum item that made gay marriage illegal after it had earlier been legalized by the state assembly, was…Would an Assassination of Iran’s Ahmadinejad Have Really Mattered?
Although the Iranian government denies it, it seems likely that someone attempted to assassinate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, while he was being driven to Hamadan to give a speech on Iran's nuclear…
Israeli and Lebanese Armies Trade Fire; at least 4 Dead
There is one sad thing and there are several surprising things about the border clash on Tuesday between Israel and Lebanon. The sad thing is that the firefight broke out over the…Jiyad: The Da`wa Party Dilemma and Gridlock in Iraq
Sajad Jiyad writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: The dilemma for Hizb al-Da'wa: A commentary on the issue of leadership in Iraq A friend recently said to me that the…US Military Mission in Iraq ends not with a Bang but a Whimper
President Obama reaffirmed on Monday that the US would have all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of August. He said that the final 50,000 would all be out of…Take that, Dennis Miller; Climate Change is Real and Dangerous
I have a bone to pick with comic Dennis Miller. We all know about his famous shift to the political right after the September 11 attacks. Although I can remember an interview…