The revolving sky, which has never revealed any mysteries, has brutally crushed a thousand innocents. Have some wine, since no one is given a long life and once people have left this world they aren’t coming back. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 259
237 Dead in Syria day of Horrors, 87 killed at Aleppo U
An enormous explosion hit Aleppo University on Tuesday, killing some 87 students and wounding over 150. The motive for the bombing is obscure. The regime holds the university and the area around it, so there is no reason for it to bomb the campus (though government bombing can go astray). But there is also nothing […]
Administration Seems Confused On Afghan ‘End Game’ – AP (…. in 1988! – Screenshot)
Bahrain’s Bloody Crackdown no Bar to Big US Weapons Sales (Elliott)
Justin Elliott writes at ProPublica: Despite Bahrain’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the U.S. has continued to provide weapons and maintenance to the small Mideast nation. Defense Department documents released to ProPublica give the fullest picture yet of the arms sales: The list includes ammunition, combat vehicle parts, communications equipment, Blackhawk helicopters, and an unidentified […]
“Investigative Journalism is Completely [Screwed]” (Daily Show’s John Oliver)
John Oliver of Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” explains that CNN eliminated its entire investigative documentary unit and that the only place investigative reporters any longer have a job is as consultants for dramas about newscasts. The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook For […]
Omar Khayyam (458) “Be happy in this fleeting moment”
Since you can’t comprehend the mysteries, why wallow uselessly in grief? Since you ‘re not going to get your way, be happy in this fleeting moment for which you exist. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 458
How Torture Misled the US into an Illegal War: What Zero Dark Thirty Really Leaves Out
An important problem with the narrative line of “Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow’s film about the Central Intelligence Agency’s quest for Usama Bin Laden, is not just that it comes across as pro-torture but that it ignores the elephant in the room: Bad intelligence elicited by torture almost derailed that quest to put down al-Qaeda […]
Syrian Regime Bombards Damascus Suburb, Kills 36, as Rebels close on Air Base
The Baath regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad showed its increasing desperation on Sunday when it had fighter jets bombard the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, killing some 36 people (some of them non-combatants). The regime bombed this area because the revolutionaries are using it as a base from which to attack the Muleiha air […]
Mercury from Coal Plants, Goldmining, a Global Health Crisis: UN Environmental Program
A new study has found that 84% of all fish have unhealthy levels of mercury! Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, the film company, has had his health permanently damaged simply from eating a lot of fish. The message to take away is not never to eat fish. It is that there is too much mercury […]
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