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Archives: February 2013
Why Scalia is Wrong about Voting as “Racial Entitlement”: Texas’ Long History of Minority Vote Supression (Beckett & Lee)
Lois Beckett and Suevon Lee have updated their earlier article at ProPublica. Although published earlier, it inadvertently serves as a canny intervention in the debate kicked off by Justice Antonin Scalia's snarky…
Hagel Confirmed, but Bloodied by American Nationalists Seeking Wars & World Dominance
The GOP senators have their own foreign policy, and it isn't the same as that of President Obama or Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. For them, the US is a 900 pound…First, Shut down all the Coal Plants: AEP forced to Shutter Engines of Climate Change, Mercury Poisoning (Chamberlain)
Jacob Chamberlain writes at Common Dreams In a victory for advocates of clean air and water, energy giant American Electric Power will now be shutting down three coal-fired power plants and significantly…“Argo” as Orientalism and why it Upsets Iranians
The taking of US diplomatic personnel hostage by radical Iranian activists and angry crowds in November of 1979, and then the backing for this action of the government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,…
Redefining Torture and the Waterboarding of Americans (Turse)
Nick Turse writes at Tomdispatch.com: Try to remain calm -- even as you begin to feel your chest tighten and your heart race. Try not to panic as water starts flowing into…Bahrain’s Agony Continues 2 Years Later
Bahrain national dialogue talks began again on Sunday as two small parties came back to the table after a token protest against what they called street violence. Last week saw the commemoration…
A Different View of Iran, 2013 (Video)
Meh Heyd did a mash-up of iPhone video he just took on a trip to Iran and set it to music. In the US we seldom see this kind of footage, which…
Palestinian Prisoner Jaradat’s death in Israeli Cell Provokes Further Protests
Arafat Jaradat was detained by Israeli authorities near Hebron last Monday at a protest of illegal Israeli squatting on Palestinian land. On Saturday the 30=year-old was reported dead in an Israeli jail…Today’s top Green Energy Good News
Russia is funding research into powering its airplanes with solar energy. The airline industry is being hurt by high fuel prices, and solar-powered planes would not only be cheaper but also would…
Should Anonymous Billionaires be able Secretly to buy our Elections? Lawsuit against IRS says Not (Barker)
Kim Barker writes at ProPublica A former Illinois congressional candidate and a government watchdog organization have teamed up to sue the Internal Revenue Service, claiming the agency should bar dark money groups…
Can Solar Energy save India’s Taj Mahal?
The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh says that it wants to develop Agra as a solar city in part so as to save the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal, a Moghul monument…
Greening of Saudi Arabia: NASA Photos Show Kingdom Tapping non-renewable Aquifers for Farming
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration last year published a series of photos over past decades showing expansion of farming in Saudi Arabia's Syrian Desert, using underground aquifers as a water…Israel-Palestine at the Oscars: Amy Goodman’s interviews on 5 Broken Cameras and the Gatekeepers
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! has been interviewing the makers and subjects of Oscar nominees for best documentary, including the Palestinian film "5 Broken Cameras" and the Israeli one, "The Gatekeepers." They are…
Taming Capitalism Gone Wild (Bill Moyers Interviews)
Bill Moyers and his guests look at how Wall Street has captured the government regulators that are supposed to be its watchdogs, how restaurant workers are underpaid, and generally how the super-wealthy…Syrian Revolution Darkens Further, with Damascus Bombings and Hizbullah Involvement
The Syrian regime bombed its own people again on Thursday, this time sending fighter jets to bombard the old district of Deraa in the south. The bombings killed 18 persons. It wasn't…Hagel with a Smear or, the Senate Republicans as HS Mean Girls (Jon Stewart’s Daily Show)
Jon Stewart at the Daily Show skewers Senate Republicans, especially Lindsey Graham and John McCain for holding up the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense over petty partisan politics. He…
What Future for the Women’s Movement? (Rosen)
Ruth Rosen writes at Tomdispatch.com: In 1968, the Phillip Morris Company launched a memorable campaign to sell Virginia Slims, a new brand of cigarettes targeting women, itself a new phenomenon. It had a…Tunisian Democracy Challenged as Prime Minister Resigns
The resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali in Tunisia has created a political crisis that the elected government will have to deal with. Jebali is a politician of the Muslim religious right,…WaPo says Gasoline Price Increase Mysterious, Ignores US blockade of Iran Oil!
The Washington Post is surprised by the 'mysterious' high cost of gasoline in the US but does not mention in this article that the US government, at the insistence of the Israel…Surprise! Talking to Iran just Might Work this Time (Jahanpour)
Farhang Jahanpour* writes at the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Room for optimism in Iran and the P5-plus-1 talks Iran and the P5-plus-1, which includes the United States, will meet…
Palestinian child in the Cross-hairs (Israeli soldier photo on Instagram)
An Israeli soldier posted on Instagram a picture of a Palestinian child in the crosshairs. The soldier said that he found the picture on the internet. Palestinians said it exemplified the brutality…
Minimum Wage: Beggaring Workers does not Help Employment (Infographics)
There is no place in the United States where a minimum wage worker working 40 hours a week can afford rent on a two-bedroom apartment. h/t The Century Foundation. Where the state's…
Why there Were no CIA Torture Black Sites in Latin America (Grandin)
Greg Grandin writes at Tomdispatch.com: The map tells the story. To illustrate a damning new report, “Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detentions and Extraordinary Rendition,” recently published by the Open Society Institute, the…Christian woman in Egypt Shoe-whacks Salafi Fundamentalist for Calling her a Harlot (Photo)
Last December at a protest against Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi in Egypt, it is alleged that an unveiled Christian woman was standing with other demonstrators when a hard-line Salafi fundamentalist came up…Holding Obama’s Feet to the Fire: Protest against Climate Change Draws Thousands to Washington
The 'Forward on Climate' protest drew some 40,000 demonstrators to Washington, DC, on Sunday. Although the press tended to cast it as mainly a rally against the Keystone XL pipeline project, which…Iran Leader: Having Nukes is ‘Crime Against Humanity’ – US Sanctions Actually Target Fuel Enrichment
The USG Open Source Center translated the entirety of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's speech in Tehran to Tabrizis on Saturday. In it, Khamenei for the nth time called nuclear weapons a…
Libya Marchin’ On, 2 years Later
Marchin' On in honor of the second anniversary of the beinning of the Libyan uprising:Formerly Liberal Kuwait has started Jailing Dissident Bloggers (Kinninmont)
Jane Kinninmont writes for ISLAMiCommentary Kuwait has traditionally had the greatest freedom of speech of all the Gulf monarchies, as well as having the most powerful parliament. Yet, like all…
Israel Spy Scandal and Press Censorship
Russia Today reports on the scandal surrounding the mysterious death in prison of Ben Zygier, an Australian who had been recruited into Israeli intelligence, Mossad. Rumors swirl that he had had a…
Big Money is buying our Politics, and how to Fight Back (Bill Moyers video)
Bill Moyers explores the subversion of American democracy by big money, and what could be done by it. A third of campaign donations in the past election were 'dark money,' i.e. from…The Crisis of Urdu (Farouqui)
Open letter from Ather Farouqui in New Delhi on the Crisis of Urdu Dear Friends, I am writing this note as the General Secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) to all…
Video of Russia Meteor Strike (but what if it had been bigger?)
Russia Today compiles amateur videos of the meteorite that struck Chelyabinsk, Russia, (900 miles east of Moscow) wounding hundreds, mainly because of flying glass. Here is what happens if a really big…Bahrain dissidents Commemorate 2 Years of Protest, Condemn Repression
The USG Open Source Center translates a report from the Bahrain newspaper al-Wasat for Feb. 14, entitled "Bahraini Opposition Condemns Security Solution, 'Ill-Treatment' of Prisoners." (They mean by 'security solution' the regime's…Another Kurdish Initiative in Turkey: Is Peace Finally Achievable? (Tezcür)
Güneş Murat Tezcür writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: The last year saw a significant escalation in the armed conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish insurgency (PKK) fighting for…Arab Television Reacts to Obama’s State of the Union Address, on Afghanistan, Iran (OSC)
The USG Open Source Center reported on the reaction to President Obama's State of the Union speech on two major Arabic-language satellite news channels, Aljazeera Arabic and Alarabiya. Aljazeera's commentators seemed disappointed…
War of Logistics in N. Syria as Rebel Forces Close in on Aleppo Airport
The rebel strategy of taking Syrian government bases and airports in north Syria to prevent the regime from resupplying its forces in the north has made strides this week. The LAT reports…America at Peace? Obama Halving US force in Afghanistan, winds down War
President Obama announced Tuesday that he would pull some 34,000 US troops out of Afghanistan over the next year, about half of the force that is in the country now. US forces…Despite Offer of Direct Talks, U.S. Intensifies Economic War Against Iran (Democracy Now!)
Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council is interviewed on Democracy Now about US sanctions on Iran and the prospect of talks about Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities.' The blurb: "The Obama…New Pope has Opportunity to Improve Christian-Muslim Relations
Pope Benedict XVI's suprise announcement on Monday that he plans to resign at the end of this month marks a potential generational change in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. His…Ahmadinejad: US must Cease Militarily Targetting Iran before Direct Negotiations
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replied on the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution to recent US overtures from Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, suggesting direct talks between…Bad Precedent: Obama’s Drone Doctrine is Nixon’s Cambodia Doctrine (Dietrich)
Christopher R. W. Dietrich writes in a guest column for Informed Comment The cynical manipulation of legal and historical precedent regarding unmanned targeted killings vehicles damages the credibility of the Obama administration.…Chuck Hagel Confirmation Hearings Satire (Saturday Night Live)
Saturday Night Live's parody of the Senate confirmation hearings for Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. (Sorry, for US-based viewers only.)
Will Obama Stand up to the Keystone XL Pipeline & Climate-Destroying Tar Sands? (Klare)
Michael T. Klare writes at Tomdispatch.com: Presidential decisions often turn out to be far less significant than imagined, but every now and then what a president decides actually determines how the world…On How the visit of Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Egypt was a Dud
The first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against Hosni Mubarak, was expected to be a…
On How Americans are being Gouged and Made more Unequal by the Internet Monopolies (Moyers Video Interview)
Bill Moyers interviews Susan Crawford on the virtual monopoly on internet provision held in the US by a few companies, who overcharge those who can afford their rates, exclude the poor, and…Why Tunisia’s Arab Spring is in Turmoil
On Friday, tens of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets to protest the shocking assassination of leftist, secular politician Chokri Belaid earlier this week. He had been the leader of a…
American Torture: The 50-Nation Hall of Shame (Jamiol Cartoon)
courtesy Jamiol's World by Paul Jamiol.
When we Kill without Caring: Bill Moyers on the Downside of Drones (Video)
Bill Moyers on the downside of droning our enemies to death. The blurb: In a web-extended version of his broadcast essay, Bill Moyers gives examples of how indiscriminate killing by our military…Top Ten Surprises of the Brennan Hearing on CIA Torture and Drones
The confirmation hearing for John Brennan allowed the country to grapple with many issues that had been swept under the rug and seldom discussed in public. While few to none of them…Are today’s Drone Strikes still covered by the 2001 Congressional Authorization of Use of Force? (Currier)
Cora Currier writes at ProPublica: Drone Strikes Test Legal Grounds for War on Terror In his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama declared that "a decade of war is now ending." White House…Naming the Dead Killed by US Drones: (Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
The Drones Team at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism writes: The Bureau is launching an ambitious new investigation, which will seek to identify as many as possible of those killed in US…Deep Democratization in Egypt: How Women are Driving the Changes (Krause)
Wanda Krause writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: Political analysts writing on Egypt have tended to focus on the missteps of President Mohamed Morsi. Others are engrossed with how (un)well…Lawmakers Threaten Brooklyn College for Event on Boycott of Israel over Settlements (Democracy Now!)
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! reports on the attempt of far right-wing partisans of Israel to quash a courtesy sponsorship by the Department of Political Science at Brooklyn College for a student-organized panel…
Drones and Democracy (Moyers Video Interview)
Bill Moyers discusses with his guests the question of "Drones and Democracy" The blurb for the show from BillMoyers.com: Vicki Divoll and Vincent Warren on Drones and Democracy February 1, 2013 Bill…
Stop the Great Coal Export Conspiracy! (Greenpeace)
Greenpeace USA explains: Big Coal plans to get around Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on toxic emissions by just shipping the coal abroad to countries that don't care about the environment. And, they're…Top Five Objections to the White House’s Drone Killing Memo
NBC's Michael Isikoff has revealed the text of a white paper composed for Congress by the Department of Justice that sheds light on the legal arguments made by Eric Holder in justifying…
Paranoia Strikes Deep: A Cowering America still Haunted by Bin Laden’s Ghost (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com Consider Inauguration Day, more than two weeks gone and already part of our distant past. In its wake, President Obama was hailed (or reviled) for his “liberal” second inaugural address. On…Leaked Obama Memo Shows Assassination of U.S. Citizens “Has No Geographic Limit” (Democracy Now!)
Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" reports on the leaked drone memo authorizing killing of American citizens abroad at the president's order: The blurb for the show: "The Obama administration’s internal legal justification for…
Malala Yousafzai nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, Starts Foundation for Girls’ Education
Malala Yousafzai has released two videos in the past few days, one before her surgery to put a plate in her skull, and after she came out of the successful operation. She…US Covert Drone War in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia – Jan. Update (Woods et al.)
Chris Woods, Jack Serle and Alice K Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Yemen was hit by the highest number of airstrikes in one month since June 2012, though none…
Iran President accuses Speaker of Parliament of Corruption, as Labor Minister is Impeached
With the Iranian presidential elections only 5 months away, Iranian politics is heating up. Outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday accused the family of the speaker of the Iranian parliament of corruption.…
Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Natural Gas Platform Sinks
A $40 million platform unit in the Persian Gulf designed to increase Iran's natural gas production sank last week. It was built with Iranian government funding via a company belonging to the…
Will a declining America Start Having to Obey the same Rules as Everybody Else? (Chomsky)
Noam Chomsky writes at Tomdispatch.com: [This piece is adapted from “Uprisings,” a chapter in Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire, Noam Chomsky’s new interview…
Syria: Rebels take Aleppo Airport Road; NYT: Obama Nixed Clinton/Petraeus Plan to Arm Rebels
Syria's revolutionaries are saying that they have taken a key Aleppo district, Sheikh Said, that enables them to block the road to the airport. The Baath regime has been using its airports…Obama Closing the Office that Had been charged with closing Guantanamo Bay (Colbert Report)
Stephen Colbert reports on the Obama administration's closing of the office that was supposed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire…
Egyptian Cities Erupt in anti-Morsi Demonstrations
Tens of thousands of Egyptians demonstrated around the country on Friday, despite cold, rainy weather in Alexandria and along the Canal zone. In Cairo itself, crowds gathered in front of Morsi's presidential…
Matt Taibbi on Big Banks’ Lack of Accountability (Moyers Video Interview)
Bill Moyers interviews Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi on why banksters who clearly engaged in illegal activity that crashed the American economy have been held harmless from prosecution. This is the blurb…
Arts under the Occupation: Dispatch from Palestine (Quran)
LAYLA QURAN writes at ISLAMiCommentary: Layla Quran (pictured outside Ofer Prison, left) is a sophomore global studies major at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Palestinian-American who moved to the…