The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, c. 1900 (From Gertrude Bell, Syria: The Desert and the Sown, 1908)
Archives for January 2014
Ban Coal: Coal Industry Chemical Threatens 300,000 in West Virginia
(By Juan Cole) Some 300,000 West Virginians are at risk from their tap water after a company making MCHM spilled it into the river, turning it a little purple and making it smell like liquorice. MCHM can be fatal if imbibed, and otherwise it can make you vomit your guts out. It is used to […]
1,000 rial
January 10-2014 The Central Bank has decided to lop some zeros off the rial (photo) next year. Mahmud Ahmadi, a senior official of the Central Bank, said the plan was to make the change in the second half of the next Persian year (September 2014-March 2015). The Mehr news agency said “at least” three zeros […]
Israeli vandals fell fruit trees in revenge attack on Arabs
Suspected Jewish extremists cut down fruit trees belonging to Israeli Arabs in an apparent revenge attack for Palestinian villagers beating up Jewish settlers, police say.
Fox News: Christie Scandal Coverage pretext to Ignore Gates Revelations
(By David Edwards) Fox host on Christie: ‘Bridge thing’ ruining coverage of Bob Gates’ Obama-bashing (via Raw Story ) Fox News host Steve Doocy on Thursday lamented the fact that the media was covering leaked emails that proved New Jersey Chris Christie’s (R) administration closed part of the busiest bridge in the world as political […]
Libya: The Dictatorship of the Militias
(By Imad Mesdoua) “Ansar Al-Sharia cleans the streets of Benghazi and conducts social work to further enhance its standing” Terrorism Security in Libya still remains an ephemeral prospect. The country is awash with guns and militias, numbered in the thousands. Since the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, successive transitional governments have consistently failed to impose […]
Peak or no Peak, Oil is Unsafe at any Price
(By Michael Klare) Among the big energy stories of 2013, “peak oil” — the once-popular notion that worldwide oil production would soon reach a maximum level and begin an irreversible decline — was thoroughly discredited. The explosive development of shale oil and other unconventional fuels in the United States helped put it in its grave. […]
“It’s all Right to Make Fun of the Government”: Bassem Youssef (Egypt’s Jon Stewart)
Bassem Youssef: “It’s OK to make fun of ourselves” “BBC Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman talks to Bassem Youssef, also known as the “Egyptian Jon Stewart”, about making people laugh in Egypt today.”
Top 5 US Government Decisions that put Troops more at Risk than Snowden Did
(By Juan Cole) The propaganda wars in Washington continue over Edward Snowden’s revelation that the National Security Agency and other Federal government departments have in the past decade quietly abolished the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, without even telling us that is what they were doing. All Americans, once proud, free citizens of a republic […]
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