Pictures Don’t Lie: Refuting #there_was_no_Palestine
One of the common assertions one finds in Zionist propaganda is that there “was never any…
One of the common assertions one finds in Zionist propaganda is that there “was never any…
(By Juan Cole) 1. Federal versus local control of land Pakistan The Federally Administered Tribal Area…
(By Juan Cole) The Pulitzer Prize committee’s opinion that Edward Snowden is a public servant rather…
(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 in Israeli Military Custody Face Physical Violence (via YubaNet.com) By: Defense for Children International Palestine RAMALLAH, January 30, 2014 – Three in four Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military…
(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…
(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…
(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,…
(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…
(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.…
(By Juan Cole) The Fall of the New Year Throne (To read this sword and sorcery novel as it has unfolded before this installment, click here) Chapter Seven 2. Roxanna had been…
(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…
(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/…
(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…
AFP footage of “Dazzling fireworks conclude Sochi opening ceremony”
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…
(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…
(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.…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(By Ellen Cantarow) For the past several years, I’ve been writing about what happens when big oil and gas corporations drill where people live. “Fracking” — high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which extracts oil…
Foreign Policy
Tens of Thousands in Turkey Protest Tyranny of the Majority
(By Juan Cole) Tens of thousands of Turks demonstrated in Istanbul and other cities on Wednesday coming off the funeral of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan. Elvan had been in a coma since last…
Cole @ C-Span: Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda (video lecture)
(By Juan Cole) My class lecture, “Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda,” was filmed by C-Span in February and has been shown on television; it is now available on the web (click…
Renewable Energy Boom coming to the Middle East
Middle East North Africa Area To See Renewable Energy Boom (via Clean Technica) The trade association behind the DESERTEC Concept of the same name has said that the Middle East and North…
When it is Feinstein being Spied on, Suddenly she Squawks
(By Juan Cole) Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) took to the senate floor on Tuesday to denounce the Central Intelligence Agency for spying on her staff as it undertook an investigation into the…
Libya’s Parliament dumps PM Zeidan, Elects al-Thinni, over Oil Tanker Crisis
(By Juan Cole) In a series of dramatic political moves, the Libyan General National Congress on Tuesday carried out a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. Zeidan, identified as…
“Normalizing” Suicide Bombing: What the Assassination of Abu Khaled al-Soury Says about Jihadism Today
(Jeffrey William Lewis) On February 23 the Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia concluded peacefully. A terrorist attack by Chechen Black Widow suicide bombers—much feared and highly anticipated by many in the American…
Obama’s Rules: US Drones in Yemen – ‘Psychological Torture’ from Above
(By Sarah Lazare) As the United States steps up covert drone strikes on Yemen, with three suspected U.S. drone attacks killing at least four people in Yemen early this week, campaigners on the ground…
The War on Terror Jumps the Shark as Everyone in the Mideast accuses everyone else of Terrorism
(By Juan Cole) In early December of last year, Lebanese Shiite leader Hassan Nasrallah of Hizbullah accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut, i.e. charged…
Ukraine Muslims wary of Crimea Referendum on Joining Russia
Crimean Tatars wary of Russia referendum (via AFP) Victims of Stalin’s mass deportations in 1944, Crimea’s Tatar Muslim minority look warily on next week’s referendum on joining Russia, which could well bring…
Can Int’l Community help stop Libya’s Slide into Chaos?
(By Sarah Leah Whitson) (Tripoli) – The international community should agree to provide assistance to Libya’s flailing judicial system, Human Rights Watch said . . . following the international ministerial conference on…
Journalists should stop ‘balancing’ stories with Science Denialists: Cosmos’s Neil DeGrasse Tyson
(By David Edwards) Neil deGrasse Tyson tells CNN: Stop giving ‘equal time to the flat Earthers’ (via Raw Story ) Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Fox’s documentary series Cosmos, said on Sunday…
A New Arab Cold War: Saudi Arabia Pressures Qatar on Muslim Brotherhood, American Think Tanks
(By Juan Cole) Saudi Arabia’s listing of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the withdrawal of the Saudi, Kuwaiti United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain ambassadors from Qatar signal a big…
Can the Neoconservatives make a comeback via the Ukraine Crisis?
(By Robert Parry) President Barack Obama has been trying, mostly in secret, to craft a new foreign policy that relies heavily on cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tamp down confrontations…
Will Russell Crowe as Noah help Egypt Separate Religion and State?
(By Juan Cole) Darren Aronofski’s biblical epic “Noah” is already provoking controversy in the Muslim world, and has been preemptively banned in three Gulf states. Biblical figures, such as Abraham, Noah, David,…
Bill O’Reilly says Muslims will Diss Hillary; but 8 Muslim Countries Chose Female Leaders
(By Juan Cole) Bill O’Reilly maintains that one downside of having a woman president is that Muslims won’t respect her. For Mr. O’Reilly’s information, here are the women leaders of Muslim-majority countries,…
CIA: Only Spied On Senate Because They Took Documents Proving We Lied
Earlier this week, we wrote about the accusations that the CIA was spying on Senate staffers on the Senate Intelligence Committee as they were working on a massive $40 million 6,300 pages report condemning the CIA’s torture program. The DOJ is apparently…
Sunni Representation Imperiled in Iraq if al-Anbar can’t/ won’t Vote
(By Mustafa Habib) Events in Anbar mean that it will be very difficult for the people of the province to vote in the upcoming general election. Logistics are one problem, the fact…
India’s Elections: Religious Nationalism and the Future of Democracy
(via The Economist) Elections in India: Carnival of democracy (via The Economist) LET the contest begin. On March 5th India’s electoral commission, at last, set the dates for the largest democratic exercise…
Censorship: Turkish PM, President tangle over Bruited ban on Facebook, Youtube
(By Juan Cole) President Abdullah Gul has rejected a suggestion by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey might ban Facebook and Twitter. Nearly half of Turkey’s 77 million people use Facebook at…
The Tea Party Congress Slashed Childrens’ Food Stamps but secretly Protected Pentagon Budget
(By Mattea Kramer) Washington is pushing the panic button, claiming austerity is hollowing out our armed forces and our national security is at risk. That was the message Secretary of Defense Chuck…