Egypt’s President, Muhammad Morsi, called Saturday for a no-fly zone over Syria authorized by the UN Security Council. At the same time, he cut off diplomatic relations with Syria. It was the Arab League demand for a no-fly zone that led to the UNSC resolution on Libya and hence to the overthrow of the Gaddafi […]
British Gov’t Spied on Diplomats at G20 (& on UN before Iraq War)
The Guardian is reporting that: “Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had […]
Top 5 Temptations the Surveillance State Can’t Resist (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com The Making of a Global Security State As happens with so much news these days, the Edward Snowden revelations about National Security Agency (NSA) spying and just how far we’ve come in the building of a surveillance state have swept over us 24/7 — waves of leaks, videos, charges, claims, […]
A Brief History of Typography (Animated Video)
A History of Typography, by Ben Barrett-Forrest:
Obama Isolated at G8 on Arms for Syrian Rebels
President Obama met with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday in advance of Monday’s G8 summit. The 8 leaders meeting in Northern Ireland, will likely focus in a big way on the Syria crisis. Obama’s recent decision to become more active in Syria, at least sending light weaponry to the rebels, will have a […]
Erdogan Clears Gezi Park Protesters, sets Stage for Polarization
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday evening into Sunday morning had police deploy water cannon and tear gas (some say laced with pepper spray) to clear Gezi Park of protesters and tents, after it had been occupied for a couple of weeks by those protesting the decision to cut down its trees and build a […]
An Outbreak of Reasonableness in Tehran: Top Ten Conclusions from Iran’s Early Election Returns
Update: Centrist Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s new president, having won a massive victory in a field of 6 candidates. 13:19 ET, 6/15/13 Early election returns in Iran suggest that former National Security adviser and nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani may have won over 50% of the vote, in which case he will have won without needing […]
Obama should Resist the Clintons & Europe on Syria
Former president Bill Clinton criticized President Obama on Thursday for his inaction in regard to Syria. This step seems extraordinary and surely has something to do with positioning Hillary Clinton to run as a more hawkish New Democrat against anyone in the Obama circle in 2016. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton appears to have […]
The Emir of Kuwait’s War on Twitter
Kuwait in 2005 was hailed as a budding Arab democracy, with among the freest press in the Arab world. In the aftermath of the 2011 Arab revolutions the government of the Emir began prosecuting critics in the press and even ordinary citizens commenting at blogs or on social media, accusing them of political libel. France24 […]
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