The fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has brought forth a flood of books and documentaries. On this Thanksgiving, what strikes me is the ideals JFK put forward in his Thanksgiving proclamations, and how different they are from today’s discourse in Washington, D.C. Kennedy wrote in November of 1962 that “It […]
Archives for November 2013
Breaking “America’s Last Taboo”
Author(s): Alex Lubin American Zionism has made any serious public discussion of the past or future of Israel — by far the largest recipient ever of US foreign aid — a taboo. To call this quite literally the last taboo in American public life would not be an exaggeration. Abortion, homosexuality, the death penalty, even […]
NSA monitored visits of “Radicalizers” to Chat Rooms, Skin Sites to Discredit Them
Six persons living abroad, one of them a “US person,” were targeted by the National Security Agency for discrediting, according to information leaked by Edward Snowden and reported on by Glenn Greenwald and two colleagues at HuffPo. The NSA branded the six Muslims “radicalizers” even though it did not tie them to terrorist activity. Their […]
Pope Francis: Why are Deaths of the Homeless not a Headline but a 2-point Dow Jones rise is? (Germanos)
Andrea Germanos writes at Commondreams.org Pope Francis has issued a new document in which he rails against growing inequality, trickle-down economics and the current socioeconomic system that "is unjust at its root." Issued on Tuesday, his 224-page document, called an apostolic exhortation, is titled The Joy of the Gospel, and follows previous remarks the pontiff […]
Brubeck Jazz Classic “Take Five” in Pakistan Style (Video)
Dave Brubeck called the cover of his band’s classic “Take Five” (Paul Desmond) by the Pakistani musical group Sachal the “most original” he had ever heard. See why in this video:
The Middle East warmly welcomes Iran Deal, sees it as Step toward Denuclearizing Israel
Israel and Saudi Arabia have loomed large in reporting about the regional reaction to the UN Security Council plus Germany’s preliminary deal with Iran as they negotiate an end to the international boycott of Iran in return for practical steps permanently forestalling an Iranian nuclear weapon. Israel is a small country of 7.5 million with […]
Does the Road to Mideast Peace Run through Tehran?
The diplomatic breakthrough at Geneva is still only a down payment on a much bigger deal, and it is early to begin speaking of realignments in the Middle East on this basis. Hard liners on both sides could still derail the negotiations. But it is not too soon to begin considering what the Middle East […]
Today’s America is the Real Hunger Games: Why aren’t we Terrified? (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com: . . . gazillions of movie viewers have seen … films with the usual array of sharks, dinosaurs, anacondas, axe murderers, mutants, zombies, vampires, aliens, or serial killers, and done so with remarkable pleasure. They didn’t bolt. They didn’t imagine having heart attacks on the spot. They didn’t find it […]
US-Iran War Averted by Agreement to Negotiate on Nuclear Enrichment
The decade-long Neoconservative plot to take the United States to war against Iran appears to have been foiled. In response for a loosening of sanctions, worth some $7 billion to Iran, President Hasan Rouhani undertook to freeze enrichment activities at their present level. He also pledged to cast Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 19.75% […]
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