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Juan Cole

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Guinness World Record Day shows Human Spirit Indomitable and Silly

Guinness World Record Day shows Human Spirit Indomitable and Silly

Juan Cole

Thursday was devoted to breaking Guinness world records on the part of people who walked over 60 upright bottles, did 41 handsprings in a row, and coordinated masses of hula hoop dancing. Further proof that the human spirit is both indomitable and irredeemably silly. Persian Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi said that humans are donkeys […]

Libya
43 Dead, 500 Wounded in Tripoli attack by militia on peaceful Protesters

43 Dead, 500 Wounded in Tripoli attack by militia on peaceful Protesters

Juan Cole

Update: There was further fighting at Tajoura just east of Tripoli on Friday night into Saturday, with the death toll rising to 41 with 500 injured. The fighting seems to be in part over local people in Tripoli not wanting continued HQs in the capital of the various regional or city-based militias from outside the […]

al-Qaeda
Our Gasoline thirst fuels Mideast Fundamentalism, Violence – EVs are the Answer

Our Gasoline thirst fuels Mideast Fundamentalism, Violence – EVs are the Answer

Juan Cole

The Greater Middle East has much of the proven oil and natural gas reserves in the world, and it is those hydrocarbon resources that give the region its central position in US policy. But the dependence by the US and its allies on petroleum is promoting a disturbing religious fanaticism and authoritarianism in the Muslim […]

Iran
Take that, France:  Iran has Halted Expansion of Nuclear Facilities: IAEA

Take that, France: Iran has Halted Expansion of Nuclear Facilities: IAEA

Juan Cole

Iran has actually done some of the things that French Foriegn Minister Laurent Fabius was demanding when he derailed the agreement on confidence-building at the Geneva conference last weekend, according to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA head Yukiya Amano was in Tehran on Monday for discussions, which from all accounts went well. […]

Domestic Surveillance
American Writers are Self-Censoring to Avoid NSA Scrutiny (McCauley)

American Writers are Self-Censoring to Avoid NSA Scrutiny (McCauley)

Juan Cole

Lauren McCauley writes at Commondreams.org: Recent disclosures of the NSA's widespread dragnet program coupled with its frequent targeting of journalists are having a 'chilling effect' on American writers, stifling their freedom of expression at great detriment to society, says a new report Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self Censor. Published Tuesday by […]

Islamophobia
Muslim-American Artists Perform to Challenge Stereotypes

Muslim-American Artists Perform to Challenge Stereotypes

Juan Cole

VOA reports:: ” Going back decades, Arab actors have been successful in Hollywood. Among the most successful, such as Omar Sharif, Tony Shalhoub, and F. Murray Abraham; the latter won an Academy Award for his role in the movie Mozart. But Muslims, openly proclaiming their religion, are an even smaller minority in the U.S. entertainment […]

Iran
Is the White House Right that More Iran Sanctions put US on “Path to War?”

Is the White House Right that More Iran Sanctions put US on “Path to War?”

Juan Cole

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday warned the US Congress that imposing further sanctions on Iran at this juncture, just when negotiations have begun with Tehran, would be tantamount to a “march to war.” Carney’s reasoning is that further sanctions now would strengthen the hard liners in the Revolutionary Guards and around Supreme Leader […]

Domestic Surveillance
How America’s Global Surveillance Empire made it a Helpless Giant (Engelhardt)

How America’s Global Surveillance Empire made it a Helpless Giant (Engelhardt)

Juan Cole

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com Given how similar they sound and how easy it is to imagine one leading to the other, confusing omniscience (having total knowledge) with omnipotence (having total power) is easy enough.  It’s a reasonable supposition that, before the Snowden revelations hit, America’s spymasters had made just that mistake.  If the drip-drip-drip […]

Israel/ Palestine
Will Avigdor Lieberman’s return as Israeli Foreign Minister scupper Talks with Palestinians?

Will Avigdor Lieberman’s return as Israeli Foreign Minister scupper Talks with Palestinians?

Juan Cole

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far, far right nationalist Yisrael Beitenu Party in Israel (which is currently merged with the equally right wing Likud Party), was acquitted of corruption charges and then quickly sworn in as Foreign Minister on Monday. Lieberman is dedicated to annexing the Palestinian West Bank and dismisses Palestine leader Mahmoud Abbas […]

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