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Archives for March 2014

al-Qaeda
Cole @ C-Span:  Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda (video lecture)

Cole @ C-Span: Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda (video lecture)

Juan Cole

(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 here)

Climate Change
Renewable Energy Boom coming to the Middle East

Renewable Energy Boom coming to the Middle East

Juan Cole

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 Africa (MENA) region is likely to see their renewable energy assets more than double in capacity by the end of 2015. According to […]

Barack Obama
President Obama zings Zach Galifianakis on "Between Two Ferns"

President Obama zings Zach Galifianakis on “Between Two Ferns”

Juan Cole

President Obama on funnyordie.com plugging the Affordable Health Care Act: Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama from President Barack Obama —– Related video: The Young Turks: “Anger Over Obama Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis” )

Climate Change
 By the Way, Your Home Is On Fire: The Climate of Change and the Dangers of Stasis

By the Way, Your Home Is On Fire: The Climate of Change and the Dangers of Stasis

contributors

(By Rebecca Solnit via Tomdispatch) As the San Francisco bureaucrats on the dais murmured about why they weren’t getting anywhere near what we in the audience passionately hoped for, asked for, and worked for, my mind began to wander. I began to think of another sunny day on the other side of the country 13 […]

Domestic Surveillance
When it is Feinstein being Spied on, Suddenly she Squawks

When it is Feinstein being Spied on, Suddenly she Squawks

Juan Cole

(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 CIA torture program conducted under the Bush administration. The corporate media in the US refer to it as an “interrogation” program, often playing […]

Economy
Libya's Parliament dumps PM Zeidan, Elects al-Thinni, over Oil Tanker Crisis

Libya’s Parliament dumps PM Zeidan, Elects al-Thinni, over Oil Tanker Crisis

Juan Cole

(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 a liberal nationalist, has been targeted since his election in 2012 by the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the elected Libyan parliament, but they […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
“Normalizing” Suicide Bombing:  What the Assassination of Abu Khaled al-Soury Says about Jihadism Today

“Normalizing” Suicide Bombing: What the Assassination of Abu Khaled al-Soury Says about Jihadism Today

Juan Cole

(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 government and media–never happened. Instead, a significant suicide bombing did take place, but elsewhere and in a different manner that was nevertheless very […]

Domestic Surveillance
Edward Snowden:  The US is Undermining its own Cybersecurity

Edward Snowden: The US is Undermining its own Cybersecurity

Juan Cole

SXSW: Snowden Touts Encryption, Swipes at NSA (via slashdot) In a Google Hangout with an auditorium full of South by Southwest attendees, government whistleblower (and former NSA employee) Edward Snowden suggested that encrypted communication should become more ubiquitous and easier to use for the majority of…   —– The video: Edward Snowden and ACLU at […]

Drones
Obama's Rules:  US Drones in Yemen - 'Psychological Torture' from Above

Obama’s Rules: US Drones in Yemen – ‘Psychological Torture’ from Above

contributors

(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 say the accumulated years spent living under constant threat of death from above are sowing tragedy, "psychological torture," and resistance across the country. […]

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