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Archives: January 2013
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/bombing-violation-charter-187x137.gif)
Russia slams Israeli bombing of Syria as Violation of UN Charter
The USG Open Source Center translates the statement at the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sharply condemning Israel: Text of "Russian Foreign Ministry statement in connection to reports about…![Is Egypt on the Verge of Civil War? Morsi backs off Emergency Decree](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/backs-emergency-decree.html-187x137.jpg)
Is Egypt on the Verge of Civil War? Morsi backs off Emergency Decree
Minister of Defense Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned Tuesday that if the country's turmoil continued, Egypt faced the possibility of a collapse of the state. The intrepid Ben Wedeman of CNN reports…![Syrian Horror Show, as Obama, Kuwait Pledge Refugee Aid (+ Cole Interview)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/pledge-refugee-interview.html-187x137.jpg)
Syrian Horror Show, as Obama, Kuwait Pledge Refugee Aid (+ Cole Interview)
The UN donors' conference in Kuwait made some progress on Wednesday morning toward its goal of $1 billion in aid to the some 700,000 Syrian refugees, many of whom are shivering in…![Egypt: Canal Provinces Defy Morsi, Weakening his Authority](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/provinces-weakening-authory.html-187x137.jpg)
Egypt: Canal Provinces Defy Morsi, Weakening his Authority
The canal cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez rejected the imposition of a curfew and of emergency laws on them Monday night. In the meantime, the major opposition parties declined President…![Originsimm](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/Originsimm.gif)
Immigration and the Future of America (Chart)
Immigration to the US is if anything accelerating. The 1924-1965 immigration law had been racist and set strict quotas for everyone but northern Europeans. Since 1965, up to 25,000 immigrants can come…![Egypt: Morsi invokes Emergency Law in 3 Cities, is Slammed by Opposition](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/invokes-emergency-opposition.html-187x137.jpg)
Egypt: Morsi invokes Emergency Law in 3 Cities, is Slammed by Opposition
Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi on Sunday put three Suez Canal cities under emergency law on Sunday for a month. Port Said, Suez, and Ismailiya had seen violence by angry crowds against government…How Pundits got the Israeli Elections Wrong & Ignored the Influence of Women (Goldman)
Shalom Goldman writes at IslamiCommentary: Before the January 22 Israeli elections media pundits in the US and Israel were predicting a sharp rightward shift by the Israeli electorate. According to these analyses…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/afghanistan-another-fruitless-150x137.gif)
Afghanistan 2014: How the US will Lose Yet another fruitless War (Jones)
Ann Jones writes at Tomdispatch.com: Kabul, Afghanistan -- Compromise, conflict, or collapse: ask an Afghan what to expect in 2014 and you’re likely to get a scenario that falls under one of…![Egypt: 31 Dead in Port Said Riots over Soccer/ Football Verdict](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/soccer-football-verdict.html-187x137.jpg)
Egypt: 31 Dead in Port Said Riots over Soccer/ Football Verdict
An Egyptian court ruled against the fans of the Port Said al-Masri soccer/ football team, sentencing 21 of them to death for their role in provoking a stampede on the field last…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/children-palestinian-colonialism-187x137.jpg)
Dead Children and Arrested Babies: Palestinian Life under Israeli Colonialism
The Palestinian West Bank has been illegally de facto annexed by Israel. This territory was not awarded to Israel even in the UN General Assembly partition plan of 1947, and indeed Israel's…![Egypt: The People Still want the Fall of the Regime](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/egypt-people-regime.html-187x137.jpg)
Egypt: The People Still want the Fall of the Regime
On the two-year anniversary of the demonstration that kicked off the Egyptian Revolution and the Second Republic, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians came out to demonstrate. They were not so much commemorating…![Iraq in Crisis as Troops Shoot Down unarmed 6 Sunni Protesters](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/troops-unarmed-protesters.html-187x137.jpg)
Iraq in Crisis as Troops Shoot Down unarmed 6 Sunni Protesters
Sunni Arab tribes in Falluja (presumably branches of Dulaim) on Saturday demanded that the government turn over to them within 7 days the troops who fired on protesters on the outskirts of…Jon Stewart on the Israeli Elections: 50% of Israel is “anti-Semitic” since they rebuked Netanyahu
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show comments on this week's Israel election. The takeaway? If being critical of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is "anti-Semitic," then half of Israel turns out to be…UN to look into US Drone Program, but the Biggest Victim is Democracy
The US use of armed drones in northern Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen is now being investigated by the United Nations as a human rights abuse or even a war crime. If drones…![Top Ten Republican Myths on Benghazi that Justify Hillary Clinton’s Anger](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/republican-benghazi-clintons.html-187x137.jpg)
Top Ten Republican Myths on Benghazi that Justify Hillary Clinton’s Anger
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton let Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) have it in her testimony about Benghazi on Wednesday:Global Warming is a Domestic Crisis (Cole at Truthdig)
My column is out at Truthdig entitled "Global Warming is a Domestic Crisis" Excerpt: "At a time of continued unemployment and Republican assaults on workers’ rights, the climate crisis may not seem…Netanyahu Emerges Weakened, But Most under Israeli Apartheid were Disenfranchised
Early returns for the Israeli elections suggest that turnout was high in secular areas like Tel Aviv and in some Palestinian-Israeli districts, whereas it was low in conservative strongholds. As a result…Obama’s Inaugural and the Danger of an Iran War
President Obama addressed the big issues of war and peace in his inaugural address, and despite the vagueness of some of his pronouncements, they contain strong clues to his foreign policy agenda…Top Ten Ways President Obama has Expanded our Rights, in Rev. King’s Footsteps
In holding his inaugural on Martin Luther King Day, President Obama is underlining his achievement as the first African-American president and the first and only to win two terms. But he is…![Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Last Speech Pleading to Preserve our First Amendment Rights](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/pleading-preserve-amendment.html-187x137.jpg)
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Last Speech Pleading to Preserve our First Amendment Rights
In his last speech before being assassinated, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. complained about unjustified curbs on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly: It has only gotten worse.![Obama Sworn in for Second Term Sunday (Mitch McConnell Photograph)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/sunday-mcconnell-photograph.html-187x137.jpg)
Obama Sworn in for Second Term Sunday (Mitch McConnell Photograph)
Obama Sworn in to Second Term: "Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny Barack Obama a second term." - Mitch McConnell![Anti-Mercury UN Minimata Convention Approved in Geneva: Impact on Coal?](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/minimata-convention-approved.html.jpg)
Anti-Mercury UN Minimata Convention Approved in Geneva: Impact on Coal?
140 nations meeting in Geneva have concluded an accord to limit mercury emissions, which must now be ratified by individual nations. It has implications for coal-fired power plants, among the most serious…![Algerian Military Retakes Gas Plant: 16 Hostages, 32 terrorists Dead](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/military-hostages-terrorists.html-187x137.jpg)
Algerian Military Retakes Gas Plant: 16 Hostages, 32 terrorists Dead
The Algerian military took back the Ayn Imnas gas plant on Saturday, invading it and killing 32 radical fundamentalists, including their leader, Abdul Rahmani al-Nijeri, from Niger. Some of the 16 Western…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/gigawatts-renewables-energy-187x137.jpg)
13 gigawatts of New Wind power in US in 2012, Renewables Half of all New Energy
The US put in 13 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity in 2012, 5 of it in December alone, according to a Bloomberg study. The Office of Energy Projects report was a…![Syrian Kurds Battle Extremist Fundamentalists](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/battle-extremist-fundamentalists.html-187x137.jpg)
Syrian Kurds Battle Extremist Fundamentalists
In a potentially very bad sign for the Syrian Revolution, Agence France Presse Arabic reports that in the town of Ra's al-Ain in the province of Hasaka on the border with Turkey,…Was Aaron Swartz a Cyber-Criminal or a Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Internet? (Thompson)
Christie Thompson writes at ProPublica: When Reddit co-founder and internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide last Friday, he was facing up to 13 felony counts, 50 years in prison, and millions of dollars…Omar Khayyam (162) “Be happy, since once you’re upset it goes on forever”
Be happy, since once you're upset it goes on forever-- as stars move into conjunction in the sky, it will go on. The brick they will one day mold from your clay will…![How Lance Armstrong’s Lies & Doping are Just like Climate Change Denial & CO2](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/armstrongs-climate-change.html-187x137.jpg)
How Lance Armstrong’s Lies & Doping are Just like Climate Change Denial & CO2
Understanding how performance-enhancing drugs raise the odds of success in sports helps us understand how dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere raises the chances of heat waves: It is the same form…![Algeria’s Botched Rescue Leaves Dozens of Hostages Dead, Angers West](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/algerias-botched-hostages.html-187x137.jpg)
Algeria’s Botched Rescue Leaves Dozens of Hostages Dead, Angers West
Reuters reports that the Algerian government's intervention against the hostage crisis at a BP natural gas plant in southern Algeria has left 30 of the hostages dead. British Prime Minister David Cameron…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/climate-contributed-algeria-187x137.jpg)
Ansar Dine and How Climate Change Contributed to the Algeria-Mali Crisis
The destabilization of Mali and southern Algeria is a complex political and social process that does not have only one cause. But a changing ecology forced by climate change is a major…![jamiolcapitol](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/jamiolcapitol.gif)
Congress: The Broken Engine of our Stalled Economy (Jamiol cartoon)
By Paul Jamiol, courtesy Jamiol's World.![Gun Murders vs](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/Gun-Murders-vs.gif)
Gun Murders vs. Terrorism by the Numbers
Number of Americans killed in domestic terrorist attacks, 2002-2011: 30 Number of Americans murdered by firearms, 2000-2011: 115,997 Cost of the War on Terror since 9/11: $5 trillion Cost of the Bureau…Omar Khayyam (259) “Have some wine, since no one is given a long life”
The revolving sky, which has never revealed any mysteries, has brutally crushed a thousand innocents. Have some wine, since no one is given a long life and once people have left this…![237 Dead in Syria day of Horrors, 87 killed at Aleppo U](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/horrors-killed-aleppo.html-187x137.jpg)
237 Dead in Syria day of Horrors, 87 killed at Aleppo U
An enormous explosion hit Aleppo University on Tuesday, killing some 87 students and wounding over 150. The motive for the bombing is obscure. The regime holds the university and the area around…![afghanconfused](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/afghanconfused.jpg)
Bahrain’s Bloody Crackdown no Bar to Big US Weapons Sales (Elliott)
Justin Elliott writes at ProPublica: Despite Bahrain's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the U.S. has continued to provide weapons and maintenance to the small Mideast nation.Defense Department documents released to ProPublica give…“Investigative Journalism is Completely [Screwed]” (Daily Show’s John Oliver)
John Oliver of Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" explains that CNN eliminated its entire investigative documentary unit and that the only place investigative reporters any longer have a job is as consultants for…Omar Khayyam (458) “Be happy in this fleeting moment”
Since you can't comprehend the mysteries, why wallow uselessly in grief? Since you 're not going to get your way, be happy in this fleeting moment for which you exist. Translated by Juan…How Torture Misled the US into an Illegal War: What Zero Dark Thirty Really Leaves Out
An important problem with the narrative line of "Zero Dark Thirty," Kathryn Bigelow's film about the Central Intelligence Agency's quest for Usama Bin Laden, is not just that it comes across as…![Syrian Regime Bombards Damascus Suburb, Kills 36, as Rebels close on Air Base](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/bombards-damascus-rebels.html.jpg)
Syrian Regime Bombards Damascus Suburb, Kills 36, as Rebels close on Air Base
The Baath regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad showed its increasing desperation on Sunday when it had fighter jets bombard the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, killing some 36 people (some of…![Mercury from Coal Plants, Goldmining, a Global Health Crisis: UN Environmental Program](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/emissions-goldmining-environmental.html-187x137.jpg)
Mercury from Coal Plants, Goldmining, a Global Health Crisis: UN Environmental Program
A new study has found that 84% of all fish have unhealthy levels of mercury! Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, the film company, has had his health permanently damaged simply from eating…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/americas-abroad-engelhardt-180x137.jpg)
America’s Guns, at Home and Abroad (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com Given these last weeks, who doesn’t know what an AR-15 is? Who hasn’t seen the mind-boggling stats on the way assault rifles have flooded this country, or tabulations of…![coalmercury](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/coalmercury.jpg)
How Long will We let Coal Plants Mercury-Poison Us?
Mercury is a nerve poison, steady exposure to which causes all kinds of neurological and mental problems, as well as heart problems. I keep hearing public service announcements that you should not…![France, ECOWAS intervene in Mali to Halt Advance of Radical Fundamentalists](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/intervene-advance-fundamentalists.html-187x137.jpg)
France, ECOWAS intervene in Mali to Halt Advance of Radical Fundamentalists
The Socialist government of France's Francois Hollande intervened in Mali on Friday and Saturday to stop the advance of Muslim fundamentalists toward the capital, with operations continuing today (Sunday). The radicals had…![firearsmschild](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/firearsmschild3.jpg)
Since 1979, Firearms have Killed 120,000 US Children, Many more than Troops in Vietnam or Iraq & Afghanistan Wars (Graph)
h/t [-pdf] children's Defense Fund Children's and teen deaths are 1979-2010; I updated number of troops killed in Iraq & Afghanistan Wars to end of 2012![Top Ten Surprises of the Obama-Karzai Meet on Afghanistan’s Future](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/surprises-afghanistans-future.html-187x137.jpg)
Top Ten Surprises of the Obama-Karzai Meet on Afghanistan’s Future
1. President Obama moved the deadline for the end of US combat missions in Afghanistan up from July 31 to "this spring." At that point, the Afghanistan National Army will take the…Everything You Always Wanted to Know about US Drone Strikes *but Were Afraid to Ask (Currier)
Cora Currier writes at ProPublica: You might have heard about the "kill list." You've certainly heard about drones. But the details of the U.S. campaign against militants in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia…![Krugman: Only a Big-Spending Government can Get us out of our Depression (Moyers)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/spending-government-depression.html-187x137.jpg)
Krugman: Only a Big-Spending Government can Get us out of our Depression (Moyers)
Bill Moyers interviews Paul Krugman, who attacks the GOP deficit hawks for interfering with our emergence from the Great Republican-caused Depression of the early 21st century. What we need, he says, is…![Bombings in Pakistan Kill over 100, as Shiites are Targeted](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/bombings-pakistan-targeted.html-187x137.jpg)
Bombings in Pakistan Kill over 100, as Shiites are Targeted
Pakistan on Thursday descended into the kind of violence that tends to occur in Iraq, with a distinct Sunni-Shiite cast to it. But the larger context was a spillover of enmities from…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/worrying-torture-greenberg-130x137.gif)
How Zero Dark Thirty Taught us to Stop Worrying and Love Torture (Greenberg)
Karen J. Greenberg writes at Tomdispatch.com On January 11th, 11 years to the day after the Bush administration opened its notorious prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s deeply…![Cole : “The Syrian Regime Will Likely Fall, but it Could Take Time” (WorldView Show)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/regime-likely-worldview.html-187x137.jpg)
Cole : “The Syrian Regime Will Likely Fall, but it Could Take Time” (WorldView Show)
I was interviewed by Denis G. Campbell of the UK Progressive for his internet news and affairs program, the WorldView Show, and the exchange has just been posted. We mainly talked about…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/firearm-murders-equiv-187x137.jpg)
8,775 Firearm Murders a Year in US, Equiv. of 290 in UK
Updated. 2013 Reprint edn. Number of Murders, United States, 2010: 12,996 Number of Murders by Firearms, US, 2010: 8,775 Number of Murders, Britain, 2011*: 638 (Since Britain's population is 1/5 that of…![Alex Jones, Gun control, and White Terrorism](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/control-white-terrorism.html-187x137.jpg)
Alex Jones, Gun control, and White Terrorism
Alex Jones's angry appearance on Piers Morgan's CNN interview show on Tuesday has provoked a lot of discussion, but what strikes me is that Jones threatened to launch an armed insurrection (1776)…Fundraiser Thanks
I cannot thank enough the hundreds of supporters who donated or proffered a voluntary subscription to Informed Comment this year! We had an ambitious goal, and we more or less met it…Afghanistan: The End of America’s Longest War?
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Washington for talks with the Obama administration on the gradual draw down of foreign troops from his country over the next two years. There are currently…![Wikileaker Bradley Manning “Illegally Punished,” 4 months off Life Sentence](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/wikileaker-illegally-sentence.html-187x137.jpg)
Wikileaker Bradley Manning “Illegally Punished,” 4 months off Life Sentence
A military judge has found that Bradley Manning, who released large numbers of low-classified State Department cables to Wikileaks, was illegally punished while in the brig at Quantico, when he was denied…![Frankenyear 2012: Hottest on Record, as US emits 5 bn tons of CO2 Annually](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/frankenyear-hottest-annually.html-187x137.jpg)
Frankenyear 2012: Hottest on Record, as US emits 5 bn tons of CO2 Annually
Can we sue the Koch brothers and all the other dirty-energy, climate change-denying moguls yet for the billions they are costing us in climate disasters every year because of their poisonous carbon…Controversial, Not Controversial (Brennan v. Hagel, Big Oil v. Solar & other Media Hypocrisies)
Not controversial: John Brennan: Served in CIA during the torture program, designed the current US drone program that has extra-judicially killed hundreds, including children and including at least 2 American citizens. Controversial:…![Climate Change is turning Australia Purple with Blazing Heat](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/turning-australia-blazing.html-187x137.jpg)
Climate Change is turning Australia Purple with Blazing Heat
The heat wave or "dome of heat" afflicting Australia may produce a record temperature of over 122 degrees F. (over 50 degrees C.). For temperatures above 122 F., Australian weathermen have developed…The Syrian Opposition Attacks Bashar al-Assad’s Defiant Speech (Aljazeera & Alarabiya via OSC)
The USG Open Source Center translates broadcasts from Arabic satellite television concerning the speech on Sunday of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in which he again dismissed his opposition as terrorists and blamed…Top Ten Reasons Chuck Hagel Should be Secretary of Defense
I doubt Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska, and I would agree about almost anything with regard to domestic US politics. Unless his views have changed, we certainly would not…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/snowballing-gradualism-mckibben-150x137.gif)
Climate Change is Snowballing on Obama: Time for Drama, not Gradualism! (McKibben)
Bill McKibben writes at Tomdispatch Change usually happens very slowly, even once all the serious people have decided there’s a problem. That’s because, in a country as big as the United States,…![Syrian Revolutionaries Continue Damascus Operations as Bashar takes to Airwaves](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/revolutionaries-continue-operations.html-187x137.jpg)
Syrian Revolutionaries Continue Damascus Operations as Bashar takes to Airwaves
Beleagured President Bashar al-Assad addressed the nation on Sunday, in a "Baghdad Bob" moment, in which he more or less denied he has lost control of much of the country or that…Mass Shootings don’t Provoke States to Regulate Semi-Automatic Weapons (Sapien)
Joaquin Sapien writes at ProPublica: Following the mass shooting in Connecticut, the Obama administration and lawmakers around the country have promised to re-examine gun control in America. ProPublica decided to take a…![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/secret-history-strikes-187x137.jpg)
The Secret History of US Drone Strikes in 2012 (Woods et al.)
Chris Woods, Jack Serle and Alice K. Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Reported civilian deaths fell sharply in Pakistan in 2012, with Bureau data suggesting that a minimum of…Israel’s Turn to the Far Right: The Point of No Return? (Beattie)
Kirk J. Beattie writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: Most concerned Americans have, understandably, had their eyes glued on the monumental changes sweeping the Arab world. But they remain…![UN: 60,000 have been Killed in Syrian Revolution (Video)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/killed-syrian-revolution.html-187x137.jpg)
UN: 60,000 have been Killed in Syrian Revolution (Video)
The UN Human Rights Commission under Navi Pillai has had a team of researchers go through five different lists of casualties in Syria, and they concluded that at least 60,000 have died…![cordobagrmsg](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/cordobagrmsg1.jpg)
The World in 1013 AD: China Rising, Militant Islam in Kabul, & Sunni-Shiite Struggles in Mideast
Just for fun: What was our world like a thousand years ago? Of course, technologically very different, but Song China and Muslim Spain had made real advances in science, technology and infrastructure.…![Pakistani One Pound Fish Singer takes Charts by Storm](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/pakistani-singer-charts.html-187x137.jpg)
Pakistani One Pound Fish Singer takes Charts by Storm
Muhammad Shahid Nazir had a hero's welcome at Lahore airport last week. The fishmonger had gone to the UK last summer and worked in an east London fish market. His boss asked…![windus](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/windus.jpg)
Good News for Planet: Wind Power tax Credits Renewed in ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal
While it is important that the Bush tax giveaway to the wealthy begin to be reversed if the US budget is ever to recover its health, the bigger significance of the budget…![iran_me](http://web.archive.org./web/20170630223754im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/01/iran_me1.jpg)