Pratap Chatterjee writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism He walked quietly between his two friends as he entered the conference hall in one of the best hotels in an exclusive enclave of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The carpeted room filled with chairs draped in white as if for a wedding, usually hosted business […]
Archives for April 2012
Drones, Drones Everywhere, and now we’ve given them to Iran
The American deployment of its thousands of drones or unmanned aircraft is one dimension of the breakdown of the rule of law. The US sends the spy craft over other countries without permission and in the teeth of ardent protests, violating their sovereignty. There are now plans to fly drones over US towns, as part […]
Earth Day means nothing if We Don’t Limit Carbon Emissions
The first observance of Earth Day was March 21, 1970. I was 17, and along with other students at Broad Run High School, went out with garbage bags to clean up the side of the road leading to the school. Even then, of course, the world faced much more serious pollution issues than roadside litter. […]
Yes, MEMRI, there is a Fatwa from Khamenei forbidding Nukes
I’m told that MEMRI, which has its origins in Israeli military intelligence, has put out a statement doubting that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ever issued a fatwa forbidding nuclear weapons. (MEMRI claims to be a 501(c)3 non-profit but is actually an effort to cherry-pick Middle Eastern news to present the most negative face of […]
Omar Khayyam (104)
Every place you see a rose or red tulip, they are tinted by the blood of a fallen king. Every violet petal that falls to the ground was a mole on the face of a stunning beauty. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 104
Tens of Thousands of Egyptians Demand end to Military Rule
Friday was the Day of Reviving the Revolution in Egypt, writes al-Hayat in Arabic, with tens of thousands of protesters filling Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. Some 30 political parties participated, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis, as did major New Left youth movements such as April 6 and the Movement of Revolutionary Youth. […]
War is God’s way… (Rodriguez)
Courtesy Paul Rodriguez Page. This quote appears to come from his stand up routine of 1987 in Los Angeles. It is often misattributed to Ambrose Bierce.
Bahrain: little change since ‘brutal crackdown’ as Formula 1 begins (Serle)
Jack Serle writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Bird shot, tear gas and truncheon-wielding riot police are not the normal accompaniments to a Grand Prix weekend. Heavy with corporate sponsorship and shielded from the ongoing riots and bloodshed, the most wealthy of motorsports has arrived in the tiny archipelago state of Bahrain. This Persian […]
Bahrain Protests ahead of Formula One Race
Protesters in Bahrain on Thursday came out against the holding of the Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, and met repression by police, who used stun guns and tear gas to clear them away. Bahrain has seen over a year of protests, but the Sunni monarchy has largely managed to quell the Shiite majority (the […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved