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Archives: February 2014
GOP v. Nature: House Voted Against Environment 95 Percent Of The Time In 2013
(By Katie Valentine) House Republicans Voted Against Environmental Interests 95 Percent Of The Time In 2013 (via SierraActivist) House Republicans voted in line with environmental interests on key environmental legislation an average…
Obama and the Golden Calf of National Security: Broken Commandments
(Karen J. Greenberg) In January 2009, Barack Obama entered the Oval Office projecting idealism and proud to be the constitutional law professor devoted to turning democratic principles into action. In his first…
Who Favors Discrimination against Gay Newlyweds? Most Republicans, old People, Southerners, Evangelicals
A new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute sheds light on the divisions in the US over gay marriage. Over all, acceptance of gay marriage is on an upward trajectory, with…Turkey’s election board bans TV program for ‘one-sided’ opinions
The High Elections Board (YSK) has banned a news program from broadcasting on the private Bugün TV news station for “including only one-sided opinions,” according to daily Bugün.
Israel Parliament debates incursion into Holy Muslim site in Jerusalem
(Via AFP) Israel police, protesters clash at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque (via AFP) Israeli police clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians Tuesday in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound of Jerusalem's Old City, ahead of a parliamentary…
Threatened Syrian Christians taking up Arms, Tackling Extremists
(By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi) When it comes to news reports on Christians in Syria, the general focus is on the concerns Christian civilians have about their future, if any, in the country.…
Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” video Decried as Blasphemous by Some Muslims
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" music video, set in ancient Egypt, has stirred controversy because of a scene where a man is struck down who is wearing a pendant with "God" (Allah) written…
Dick Cheney Broke US Military, now blames Obama for Cuts
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has lambasted the Obama administration for its announcement that it will cut 8% out of the military budget and reduce standing army troop levels to the lowest…
Angelina Jolie launches Syria Refugee Appeal; UNICEF: 2,000 Syrian Children in Lebanon at Risk of Death
(UNICEF writes): UNICEF report: Silent threat emerging among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon BEIRUT, 25 February 2014 – A UNICEF-led joint nutrition assessment on the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was…
India’s New Large-Scale Solar Projects will add 2 Gigawatts to its Grid
(By James Ayre) India Announces 2 GW Worth Of New Large-Scale Solar Projects (via Clean Technica) Two gigawatts (GW) worth of new large-scale solar energy projects will soon be constructed in the…
A World Multiply Endangered: Horseman of the Four Apocalypses
(Ira Chernus) For those of us of a certain age, it seems as if the world has always been ending. It’s easy now to forget just how deep fears and fantasies about a nuclear…
Obama Plans for complete US Withdrawal from Afghanistan in December
(By Juan Cole) America's longest war may be over by the end of this year, and it is making Afghans and neighbors like Pakistan nervous. On Tuesday President Obama called Afghan president…Israeli firms get top honors at premier cyber-security show
Statistics show that Israel is a global cyber-defense power, said head of the National Cyber BureauWrite French? Open a blog on The Times of Israel Français
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As Egyptian Gov’t Falls, Leftist Presidential Candidate seeks Youth Vote
(Via AFP) Egypt presidential hopeful fears return to autocracy (via AFP) Presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabbahi said he fears a return to autocratic rule in Egypt, telling AFP that the army chief, a…
The Decline and Fall of the Turkish Model
(By Erdağ Göknar for IslamiCommentary) Erdağ Göknar Most observers agree that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has mishandled the current political crisis. The AKP, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip…
Darkening of Melting Arctic Amplifying Global Warming from CO2
(By Jacob Chamberlain) One of nature's key defenses against global warming—the reflection of the sun's rays away from Earth by Arctic sea ice—has fallen victim to... global warming. And according to a…
4 Darknesses: Internet being Manipulated, Deceived by Western Intel Trolls
(By Juan Cole) Researchers on online behavior have shown that internet trolls (people who use insincere techniques to disrupt conversations) really are psychopaths, marked by narcisssism, sadism, Machiavellianism. Professors Eric Buckels, Paul…Saudis 'seek Pakistani arms for Syrian rebels'
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the war to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a…
Turkey: Legislating the End of Democracy – 3 Laws for One-Party Rule
(By Ola Claësson) The government’s response to the Gezi protests in June 2013 and its obstruction of a graft probe targeting ministers in December the same year has tarnished the perception of…
A World built on Slavery
(By Greg Grandin) Many in the United States were outraged by the remarks of conservative evangelical preacher Pat Robertson, who blamed Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake on Haitians for selling their souls to…
The Promise and Existential Risks of Nanotechnology
Video by Dr. Kim Solez on Existential Risks [of Nanotechnology] prepared for the Lifeboat Foundation The Bill Joy video excerpt from the year 2000 in "The Future Doesn't Need Us" segment at…
Not to Reason Why: A New Crimean “War”?
(Juan Cole) The Russian-speaking population of the Crimean Peninsula in the Ukraine is upset by the popular movement in the west of the country that has overthrown president Viktor Yanukovych and is…
Not only Big Brother but Big Corporation is Tracking you Online Too
(Via Techdirt) What Happens When You Marry The NSA's Surveillance Database With Amazon's Personalized Marketing? (via Techdirt) By now, most people who shop online are aware of the way in which companies…
Israel’s Curb on Freedom of Speech in Anti-Boycott Law Challenged in Court
(By Bill Van Esveld) On [last] Sunday, nine Israeli Supreme Court justices heard a petition to revoke the country’s “anti-boycott law” – a law that penalizes people or groups that advocate boycotting…
A-Pop & Hip-Hop: “Wild Ones” – Myriam Fares and Flo Rida
"Wild Ones" by Myriam Fares & Flo Rida Last summer American rapper Tramar Lacel Dillard a.k.a. Flo Rida reprised his 2011 hit with Sia, "Wild Ones" with Lebanese pop star Myriam Fares…
As Ukraine’s President Flees in Overthrow, Lessons for Kyiv from the Arab Upheavals
(By Juan Cole) The dramatic overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday, as he fled the presidential palace and it was occupied by extreme nationalists, recalls events in the Middle East…
The Deep State is Vulnerable to People Power
(By Juan Cole) My remarks below were published at Bill Moyers' site this weekend. They came in response to Mike Lofgren's important essay, "Anatomy of the Deep State" . Lofgren is a…
Wind Turbines don’t decline in Efficiency for 25 Years, contrary to Myth
(By James Ayre) Wind Farms Blow Away Old Criticism — Research Shows That Wind Turbines Remain Productive For Up To 25 Years (via Clean Technica) While wind energy has become an increasingly…
Why won’t Western Politicians Condemn Israeli Crackdown on Palestinian Protesters, but do Complain about Ukraine?
(Via AFP) Hundreds demand reopening of key Hebron street (via AFP) Palestinians held a protest Friday in the West Bank city of Hebron to demand its main street be reopened, 20 years…
Judge: All right for NYPD to spy on Muslim-Americans; not all right for Journalists to reveal it
(By Sarah Lazare) A federal judge ruled Thursday that the NYPD's secret spying on Muslims in schools, restaurants, and mosques with no evidence of wrongdoing is perfectly legal, and it was the…
The GOP, Race and Ted Nugent: If you won’t Denounce Nazi Insults, What does that Say about You?
(By Juan Cole) Musician Ted Nugent called President Barack Obama a 'subhuman mongrel.' He has not been denounced for this language by Greg Abbott, the Republican who wants to be the next…
Falk: Edward Said was the Palestinians’ Nelson Mandela
(By Andrew Sondern) Princeton professor emeritus talks Palestinian nationalism in speech at university (via NJ.com) By Andrew Sondern Richard Falk, a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and the United…
Iraq: Firebrand Muqtada al-Sadr Lambastes PM as Dictator, Looter & Resigns from Politics (Again)
(By Mustafa Habib, Baghdad) He ended his ten year-long political campaign in a televised speech lasting around 11 minutes. In that speech Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said a number of disturbing things:…
The Dark State: Snowden’s Revelations on Secret Gov’t Surveillance are the Tip of the Iceberg
(By Tom Engelhardt) Intelligence officials have weighed in with an estimate of just how many secret files National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden took with him when he headed for Hong Kong…
The Iran Breakthrough TV News is Ignoring: Uranium Stockpile falls below amount Needed for Bomb
(By Juan Cole) US television newscasters have often slipped up and spoken of an Iranian nuclear "weapons program," even though no UN inspectors have found firm evidence of any such thing and…
Racializing Politics: We don’t say “Slav” Democracy troubled in Ukraine, why Talk about “Arab” Failures?
The troubles that Ukraine is having (and that Russia and the former Yugoslavia also had) in its post-Soviet politics, with a struggle between authoritarianism and democracy and between a Moscow orientation versus…
Egypt Gov’t, Clueless on Journalism, Charges 20 Aljazeera Reporters with “Terrorism” for … Conducting Interviews
(By Joe Stork) (Beirut) – Egyptian authorities in recent months have demonstrated almost zero tolerance for any form of dissent, arresting and prosecuting journalists, demonstrators, and academics for peacefully expressing their views.…
The other Face of Putin’s Olympics: Pussy Riot Whipped, Beaten for Protest Song at Sochi
Channel 4 News: "Members of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot are beaten with whips by Russian security police after trying to perform at the Winter Olympics."
America still has a Torture Problem: 4 Reasons Why
(By Rebecca Gordon) Shortly after his first inauguration in 2009, President Obama issued an executive order forbidding torture and closing the CIA’s so-called “black sites.” But the order didn’t end “extraordinary rendition”…
Tens of Thousands on Twitter Drop Turkey’s President over Internet Censorship Law
(Via AFP) Turkey president loses Twitter followers over web law (via AFP) Turkish President Abdullah Gul has lost tens of thousands of Twitter followers after signing into force a controversial law voted…
Court Upholds Making fun of NSA, DHS, slaps Down their Nuisance Suit
VOA reports, 'The U.S. National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security suffered a legal defeat Tuesday as a feisty T-shirt designer reaffirmed the right to ridicule these large and powerful…
A Bridge to Nowhere: Up to 75% more Deadly Methane emitted by Natural Gas Drilling than Estimated
(By Andrea Germanos) The amount of methane leaking from natural gas emissions is far higher than previously estimated, a new study shows, more evidence, as one expert says, that urgent action must…
Manufactured Wars, Manufactured Military History
(By Nick Turse) It’s 2053 -- 20 years since you needed a computer, tablet, or smart phone to go online. At least, that’s true in the developed world: you know, China, India,…
Bill Nye Science Guy to Debate GOP Rep Gohmert on Gravity
(By Juan Cole) Satire David Gregory's Meet the Press today hosted a debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on whether gravity is just a theory.…
Palestinian Children Arrested by Israeli Troops Face Abusive Violence
Three in four Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank last year endured physical violence during arrest and interrogation, according to Defense for Children International Palestine research.…
Three Years Later: Can the Libyan Revolution Succeed?
Libyans on Monday celebrated the third anniversary of the beginning of their popular revolution against the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. The commemoration was bittersweet, since although personal freedoms have much expanded, 3,000…
Kerry Blasts Climate Denialists, equates Climate Change with Terrorism, WMDs
(By Juan Cole) Secretary of State John Kerry was in Asia this weekend, and one of his emphases in China and Indonesia was the urgency of dealing with the climate disruption caused…
Is Israel imposing Sanctions on Palestinian Universities? Repeated Incursions at al-Quds U Raise Concerns at Brandeis, Bard
(By Matt Rocheleau) Clashes between Israeli forces, students at Palestinian university sparks concern at Brandeis (via boston.com) (Al-Quds Educational TV / YouTube) By Matt Rocheleau, Boston.com Staff An alleged clash between Israeli…
The Day the 5th Amendment was Droned to Death
(By Peter van Buren via Tomdispatch) Terrorism (ter-ror-ism; see also terror) n. 1. When a foreign organization kills an American for political reasons. Justice (jus-tice) n. 1. When the United States Government…
Taliban jump Shark, Kidnap alleged Spy Dog (Colbert Report)
The Colbert Report on the Taliban Dognappers
Dear GOP: Top 5 Biblical Marriage Moments far worse than Gay Marriage
David Edwards at Raw Story quotes Mitt Romney from Meet the Press as saying "But I think marriage should be defined in the way that it has been defined for several thousand…
How Iraq Vets against War & Peace Groups stopped Senate bid to derail Iran Talks
(By Robert Clack) In 2013, an unprecedented diplomatic breakthrough happened when the United States and Iran, along with other world powers, reached an interim agreement to lift sanctions over a long-standing dispute…
The Koch Brothers’ Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble got Rich undermining Democracy
(By Kim Barker and Theodoric Meyer via ProPublica) For a brief, giddy moment, Sean Noble—a little-known former aide to an Arizona congressman—became one of the most important people in American politics.Plucked from…
Fisticuffs in Parliament as Turkish Gov’t undermines Independence of Judges
(Via AFP) Lawmakers brawl as Turkey tightens grip on judiciary (via AFP) Turkey's parliament passed a contested bill Saturday tightening the government's grip on the judiciary, sparking a fist-fight that left one…
Race Inequality in America by Graph, from Crime Sentencing to Income
(By Juan Cole) Most death sentences are handed out for killing white people, even though African-Americans make up 50% of murder victims (they are only 12% of the population). So if an…Saudis and CIA agree to Arm Syrian “Moderates” with Advanced Anti-aircraft and Anti-tank Weapons
Saudis and CIA agree to Arm Syrian Moderates with Advanced Anti-aircraft and Anti-tank Weapons by Joshua Landis The news that the “Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles,” as…
Saudi Valentines elude Puritan Morals Police
(Via AFP) Saudi Valentines defy the love police (via AFP) Red roses lurk hidden in flower shop back rooms and heart-shaped chocolates are sold under the counter, but Saudis still manage to…
Beyond the disappointment of Marines: What’s Really going on in Fallujah?
(By Mustafa Habib) NIQASH visits Fallujah and finds a city in flux. While armed militias control the city and the Iraqi army stands guard outside, markets and shops are still open and…
Descent into Bigotry: 21st Century Americans increasingly negative toward Muslims, Minorities
(By Charles Kurzman via IslamiCommentary) Islamic terrorism has proved to be a relatively small threat to public safety in America since 9/11. Isolated individuals have engaged in sporadic violence such as the…
More Solar Workers in US than Coal Miners, and Solar doesn’t Poison Drinking Water
(By Juan Cole) By the end of 2013, the number of workers in the solar energy industry in the US had grown to 143,000. About a third of them are in California,…
CAR Muslims Risk Ethnic Cleansing: What if Thousands of Christians were forced out of a Muslim Country?
(By Juan Cole) The Central African Republic has a population of 4.5 million, about 15 percent of them Muslim, or about 670,000 people. Those Muslims are now, according to Amnesty International, in…
Sen. Al Franken: Comcast-NBC / Time Warner Merger Concentrates Media, Hurts Consumers
CNN: "Sen. Franken: We need more cable competition" Karl Bode writes in a similar vein at TechDirt: Comcast: Allowing Us To Get Immensely, Inconceivably, Ridiculously Massive Is 'Pro Consumer' (via Techdirt) Comcast…
Donkeys on the Nile: The Egyptian Gov’t’s Problem with Journalists
(By Jonathan Moremi) “While Cairo was exploding, Egypt's State TV aired pictures of a donkey pulling its cart peacefully along the banks of the river Nile” Three years after the revolution, the…
Game Over for Earth: Big Carbon’s Fatal, Scorching Triumph over Greens
(By Michael T. Klare) Listening to President Obama’s State of the Union address, it would have been easy to conclude that we were slowly but surely gaining in the war on climate…
Putinism in Cairo? The Rise of the Russian Model
Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed the possibility of a run for the presidency of Egypt by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the architect of the July 3 coup against the elected Muslim Brotherhood…
Planet, Oceans Burning Up: There is no “Pause” in Global Warming
(By Jon Queally) Climate change has not hit a "speed bump." The planet's temperature is not remaining steady and it certainly isn't cooling. Earth, especially its ocean, are heating up... and rapidly.Those…
Israel to Implant 9-Storey Ultra-Orthodox Seminary in Palestinian East Jerusalem
(Via AFP) Israel to build high rise in annexed E.Jerusalem area: NGO (via AFP) Jerusalem's planning committee moved forwards on Wednesday with plans to build a nine-storey Jewish seminary in the heart…
UN: Civilian drone deaths triple in Afghanistan
(By Alice K. Ross) Civilian drone deaths in Afghanistan tripled last year, according to a report by a UN agency. Forty-five civilians died in drone strikes in 2013. The report, by the…
Did Religious Extremism drive 2 Million Egyptian youth to Unbelief?
(By Juan Cole) Egyptian journalist Hilmy al-Namnam said last fall that some researchers had concluded that there were 2 million Egyptian atheists. He blamed the rapid increase in unbelief among young people…
We’re all Living in the World Dick Cheney Made
(By Mark Danner via a href="http://www.nybooks.com/">NYRB and Tomdispatch.com) If you’re a man of principle, compromise is a bit of a dirty word. -- Dick Cheney, 2013 1. “We Ought to Take It…
Can Obama make a grand bargain with Iran over Syria?
(By Shahram Akbarzadeh) The last round of talks to bring some relief to the humanitarian disaster in Syria achieved remarkable nothing. The anti-Assad delegation traded barbed insults with the Syrian government delegation…
False Dawn: The 35th Anniversary of Iranian Revolution
(By Farhang Jahanpour) The Iranian revolution succeeded exactly 35 years ago this week. After 37 years of rule, Mohammad Reza Shah left Iran on 16 January 1979, never to return. His nemesis,…
Obama & Hollande stress Hope for Iran Breakthrough
(By Juan Cole) In his news conference with French President Francois Hollande, President Obama outlined four areas of diplomatic progress. The first is foreign policy, including Iran, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.…
The Arts of the Arab Uprisings at the Arab-American Museum
VOA interviews my colleague Christiane Gruber of the Art History Department at the University of Michigan on the exhibit she helped curate at the Arab-American Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, which came out…
Assassination by Leak: US floats Trial Balloon of Droning an American to Death
(By Tim Cushing) Administration Officials Perform Some Very Public Handwringing Over Extrajudicial Drone Killing (via Techdirt) The administration has sort of painted itself into a corner with its new rules on drone…
Iraq illegally Jailed thousands of Women, Torture & Abuse Alleged
(Human Rights Watch) (Baghdad) – Iraqi authorities are detaining thousands of Iraqi women illegally and subjecting many to torture and ill-treatment, including the threat of sexual abuse. Iraq’s weak judiciary, plagued by…
Big Green Energy is Remaking Africa and Asia
(By Juan Cole) A significant part of the population of Africa and Asia at present has no access to electricity, and in some countries those deprived amount to as much as 80…
Abraham Foxman To Step Down as Anti-Defamation League Chief
Abraham H. Foxman announced he will step down from his position as National Director of the Anti-Defamation League on July 20, 2015, bringing to a close a 50-year career in Jewish communal…
8 Unsustainable Delusions of the American Way of Life
(By Tom Giesen) The ideal of the American way of life as formulated in the twentieth century has collapsed early in the new Millennium without most Americans even realizing it. Its basic…
Brokers of Deceit: Massive US Aid to Israel has Enabled a Colonial Project
(By Chase Madar via Tomdispatch) We Americans have funny notions about foreign aid. Recent polls show that, on average, we believe 28% of the federal budget is eaten up by it, and…
20 Banks Funding most Dirty Coal Mining, Climate Disruption, Worldwide
(By Michael Winship) Turning Up Heat on Banks Funding Fossil Fuels (via Moyers & Company) As environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben tells Bill Moyers on this week’s Moyers & Company about…
Top 10 Reasons Rand Paul’s Lewinsky Gambit Can’t Obscure GOP War on Women
(By Juan Cole) Sen. Rand Paul, in preparation for his run at the presidency in 2016, has been attempting to deflect the GOP disadvantage with women by bringing up the Bill Clinton/…
In midst of Alleged Peace Talks, Israel Announces Hundreds of new Squatter Homes in Palestinian East Jerusalem
(via AFP) Israel approves 550 Jerusalem settler homes (via AFP) Israel expedited Wednesday plans for more than 550 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, in a move exacerbating tensions between Israel and…
A $9 Trillion War? Top 10 Reasons Americans will Regret it if GOP Derails Iran Negotiations
(By Juan Cole) 40 Republican senators are making a last-minute push to bring further Iran sanctions up for a vote despite the opposition of senate majority leader Harry Reid. Some 59 senators…
Daily Show on al-Qaeda & Syria Part Deux: That’s not how Bin Laden would have Killed Them
This part of the piece has the clip of my interview on the subject at Aljazeera America. Here is the second part of the Jon Stewart piece on the break between al-Qaeda…
Let’s See: Major Droughts in Drying West; Fracking a Water Hog and Causes Drought…
(By Jon Queally) Almost half (47%) of all U.S. wells are being developed in regions with high to extremely high water stress. This means that more than 80 percent of the annual…
“The Iranians are Coming!” Derangement Syndrome over 1 Destroyer in Atlantic
(By Juan Cole) Today's headlines in the US were marked by Iran derangement syndrome. It turns out that Iran has sent "a fleet" of "warships" into the Atlantic Ocean via the Cape…Iraq says recoverable oil reserves stand at 15 billion barrels
By Shaymaa Adel Azzaman, February 8, 2014 Iraq’s recoverable oil reserves have shot to 150 billion barrels, thanks to new major discoveries, Oil Minister Abdulkareem Luaibi said. Previously, the ministry’s official figure…
Sochi Opening Ceremony Fireworks
AFP footage of "Dazzling fireworks conclude Sochi opening ceremony"
Bhutto Zardari: Taliban must be eradicated from Pakistan
(Via The Economist): Bilawal Bhutto on Pakistani politics: Renaissance man (via The Economist) MODELS in skimpy outfits, dancing around a fiery cauldron in a strange homage to an ancient, pre-Islamic past…is not…
McKibben: Crunch Time for Obama on Keystone XL
Bill Moyers interviews environmental activist Bill McKibben on the choice facing President Obama on the Keystone XL pipeline: McKibben argues that stopping the pipeline is a necessary first step to stopping the…
Another non-terrorist non-Muslim Plane Hijacker: The Sochi Plot
(By Juan Cole) The Associated Press article on the Ukrainian hijacker who tried to divert a plane to Sochi on Friday is interesting for the words it does not use. (I'm not…
NSA’s Zero Day Exploits: Paying $800 mn. to Hackers so they Can Spy on You
(By Pratap Chatterjee via Tomdispatch) Imagine that you could wander unseen through a city, sneaking into houses and offices of your choosing at any time, day or night. Imagine that, once inside,…
Daily Show: How much of an A*hole do you have to be that Al-Zawahiri won’t Work with You?
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show at Comedy Central covers the fruitless Syria negotiations and break between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Imagine my surprise when a…
Boycott of Israeli Universities by American Studies Assn. being Tried in a Kangaroo Court
(By Alan M. Wald) In Memory of Edward Said (1935-2003) “You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit.” --Edward W.…
Turkey’s Ruling Party enacts “Orwellian” Web Censorship
(Via AFP) Turkey lawmakers adopt 'Orwellian' Internet curbs (via AFP) Turkish MPs late Wednesday adopted new Internet legislation roundly criticised as a fresh assault by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on freedom…
“In the Seam”: Israel Strangles Palestinian Town
(By Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – The Israeli military is severely harming livelihoods in a Palestinian village in the West Bank that it plans to turn into an archaeological…
Congress to CIA: Provide US Drone Victim Count
(By Alice K. Ross) The CIA director and other intelligence chiefs were urged to increase transparency over covert drone operations by members of the House intelligence committee yesterday. Adam Schiff, a Democratic…
Camel Bones and Jerusalem: Archeology Shows Bible written Late, Full of Errors
(By Juan Cole) A new paper by Israeli archeologists Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef, [pdf] posted at the University of Tel Aviv web site , is bad news for biblical literalists and…
Iceland: Major Green Energy Breakthrough using Magma for Geothermal
(Via CleanTechnica) First Magma-Enhanced Geothermal System In The World Developed In Iceland (via Clean Technica) The first “magma-enhanced” geothermal system in the world — the IDDP-1 well at Krafla — has proven…
Bush ordered NSA to spy on Germany’s Schroeder over Iraq War Opposition
(By Juan Cole) The Guardian reports that the George W. Bush administration put German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's personal telephone under surveillance in 2002. Schroeder was opposed to the Bush-Cheney aggressive war on…
The Death of God in Iraq: 32% of Iraqis not Sure God Exists, 11% think Not
(By Mariwan Salihi) Despite its dangers and taboos in the conflict-ridden nation, some Iraqi youth are turning towards atheism. Mariwan Salihi met a few of them. One of the Iraqi capital’s most…
Broken Democracy: Republicans poised to take Senate, Americans Reject their Platform
(By Juan Cole) A lot of political analysts think it is entirely possible that the Republicans will take the senate next November. This development won't change much, in all likelihood, if it…Hamas political leaders nix rocket fire on Israel
Group’s military wing planned to hit back after recent IDF strikes on Gaza
Billionaire Victimology is the Worst
(By Robert Freeman) Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald's restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)The Tom Perkins “billionaires-as-victims” charade couldn’t be more surreal.…
Egyptian Junta increasingly sees Journalism as a form of Terrorism, Arrests Journalists
(Via Globalpost) Why Al Jazeera's journalists are being targeted in Egypt (via GlobalPost) CAIRO, Egypt — In Egypt, journalists are being accused of terrorism. Twenty Al Jazeera employees, including four foreigners, are…
Dear President Obama: Tar Sands & Keystone XL are more Dangerous than an Iranian Atomic Bomb
(By Juan Cole) Dear President Obama: You have said repeatedly that if negotiations with Iran do not limit its nuclear enrichment activities solely to peaceful uses, i.e. production of fuel for energy…
Islamic State of Iraq & Levant too Extreme for al-Qaeda (Not the Onion)
(By Juan Cole) Ayman al-Zawahiri, now the leader of the international terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, has disavowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL (also called ISIS, substituting Syria for…
The Cheapening of American Politics: Why did Obama reward O’Reilly with an Interview?
(By Juan Cole) President Obama subjected himself to an interview by Bill O'Reilly of Fox "News" on Sunday before the Superbowl. Obviously, intellectually it was Obama Seahawks rolling over O'Reilly Broncos. And…
Israeli Pols attack Sec. Kerry over Boycott Remarks: “Can’t negotiate with a gun to our Heads”
(Via AFP) Israel, US locked in spat over Kerry boycott remark (via AFP) Israel and Washington were at loggerheads on Sunday after senior Israeli figures attacked US Secretary of State John Kerry…
Egyptian Women Learn Kung Fu for Fighting Sexual Harassment
VOAnews reports "Egyptian Women Learn Martial Arts to Combat Sexual Harassment"
How the Media Missed the Story of the Millennium: One Climate Blockbuster after Another
(By Tom Englehardt) Here’s the scoop: When it comes to climate change, there is no “story,” not in the normal news sense anyway. The fact that 97% of scientists who have weighed…
Director Steven Spielberg speaks at UN Holocaust Remembrance Day: “There are no Bystanders to History”
ITN reports, "Director Steven Spielberg talks at UN Holocaust Remembrance Day"
Turkish Gov’t Compares Internet Freedom to Battered Spouses
(Via Techdirt) Turkish Government Says Online Freedom Is Like Violence Against Women (via Techdirt) As anyone who has been following the news knows, Turkey has been going through a turbulent patch recently.…
Photo of the Day: Women in Mosul, 1902
From M. E. Hume-Griffith and A. Hume, Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman’s Eight Years’ Residence Amongst the Women of the East (1909). The authors…
Now Peace Talks, John Kerry, are “Anti-Semitic” in Eyes of Israeli Far Right
(By Juan Cole) The Likud-led Israeli government doesn't like US Secretary of State John Kerry at all. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ridiculed him as "obsessive" and "messianic." Economy Minister Naftali Bennett earlier…
Christie, Clapper and other Officials who should be in Jail instead of Snowden
(By Juan Cole) The vindictiveness toward Edward Snowden in official Washington has nothing to do with law-breaking and everything to do with the privileges of power. The powerful in Washington may spy…
US Scam: Give the Rich Money & and they might Make us Slightly Less Poor (David “The Wire” Simon)
Bill Moyers interviews David Simon on "America as Horror Show" and the fate of the "extra people" left over once the jobs were shipped to the Pacific Rim (they are hunted and…
Ms. Marvel Comics a lightning Rod for Islamophobic Intolerance
(By A. David Lewis for IslamiCommentary) A. David Lewis Kamala Khan is not the first Muslim superhero. She’s neither the first American Muslim superhero, the first teenage Muslim superhero, nor the first…