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Archives for 2012

Uncategorized
Saudi ban on women’s sports blamed for rising obesity (Zambarakji)

Saudi ban on women’s sports blamed for rising obesity (Zambarakji)

Juan Cole

Angie Zambarakji writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: A girl’s school in Saudi Arabia has defied a ban on sport for girls by letting pupils play basketball. This comes comes after Human Rights Watch has claimed that women’s limited access to sport was contributing to rising obesity in the country. Under the Kingdom’s strict […]

Uncategorized
Minority Births the Majority?  On how the whole idea of White People is Made Up

Minority Births the Majority? On how the whole idea of White People is Made Up

Juan Cole

The news is going around breathlessly that 50.4% of births in the US in the past 12 months were to families categorized as ethnic minorities, presaging the time when ‘whites will be a minority’ in the US. The unselfconscious deployment of these categories just takes your breath away. Who gets to decide which ones are […]

Egypt
Egypt’s Tantawi Pledges no first Strike Abroad, Fair Elections at Home

Egypt’s Tantawi Pledges no first Strike Abroad, Fair Elections at Home

Juan Cole

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi addressed Egyptian troops on Wednesday and attempted to raise their morale for praising them as the guarantors of Egypt’s security. Al-Masrawi reports: “Field Marshal Tantawi said, “We are heading in the right direction.” He deplored the allegations that sometimes issue from activist organizations “that we are in enmity with this state […]

Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (130) On Forgiveness and Falling off the Wagon

Omar Khayyam (130) On Forgiveness and Falling off the Wagon

Juan Cole

I singlehandedly keep this bar afloat. My heart has bled with repentance a couple thousand times. But if I don’t go on sinning, what would divine mercy do? He can’t bestow forgiveness unless I keep falling off the wagon. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 130

Uncategorized
Thomas Jefferson on Polytheism and Atheism (Poster)

Thomas Jefferson on Polytheism and Atheism (Poster)

Juan Cole

Afghanistan
Charges of Afghan Army Torture Prevent British Detainee Transfer (Stickler)

Charges of Afghan Army Torture Prevent British Detainee Transfer (Stickler)

Juan Cole

Angus Stickler writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: British troops have been banned from transferring suspected Taliban prisoners to the Afghan authorities because of claims of torture by local forces. The move, which follows a ruling by the British High Court, is a blow to Nato countries that want to formalise their detainee transfer […]

Energy
Top 10 Green Energy Good News Stories Today

Top 10 Green Energy Good News Stories Today

Juan Cole

1. The Department of the Interior has given the green light to a power transmission line that is intended to bring power from Google, Inc.- backed offshore wind farms in the Northeast of the US to the mainland. Environmental impact studies will take 18 months to two years. The US, unlike Germany, so far has […]

Uncategorized
Legalize Pot, Save Public Education, and end Student Indebtedness

Legalize Pot, Save Public Education, and end Student Indebtedness

Juan Cole

College students and graduates in the United States have a debt crisis on their hands, owing a trillion dollars. Some 80% of university students attend public colleges and universities, which were set up to provide inexpensive education. These public institutions are increasingly expensive, however, in large part because [pdf] state legislatures have systematically cut their […]

Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (129) “No one ever returned”

Omar Khayyam (129) “No one ever returned”

Juan Cole

We travelled far and wide over desert wastes, and journeyed  toward the horizon. We never met anyone coming from other direction. When once they set out on that path, no one ever returned. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 129

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