College students and graduates in the United States have a debt crisis on their hands, owing a trillion dollars. Some 80% of university students attend public colleges and universities, which were set up to provide inexpensive education. These public institutions are increasingly expensive, however, in large part because [pdf] state legislatures have systematically cut their […]
Omar Khayyam (129) “No one ever returned”
We travelled far and wide over desert wastes, and journeyed toward the horizon. We never met anyone coming from other direction. When once they set out on that path, no one ever returned. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 129
Top Ten Ways the US Military can Avoid Teaching Hatred of Muslims
The Pentagon brass are condemning a course on Islam taught at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., which mischaracterized mainstream Muslim persons and organizations as radical, violent extremists, and called for treating the Muslim civilian populations the way the Japanese at Hiroshima were treated. Those who took the class were encouraged to think […]
US arms Sales to Bahrain Undercut Criticism of Russia, Iran on Syria
You wouldn’t think Bahrain and Syria were much linked. Both are Arabic-speaking countries, though about half of Bahrain’s residents are non-citizen guest workers who speak anything but Arabic. One is a geographically fairly large country of some 23 million abutting the eastern Mediterranean. The other is a set of tiny islands in the Mideast’s Gulf. […]
Oil Billionaires Plot Secret Campaigns against Renewable Energy (duh)
The intrepid Suzanne Goldenberg of the Guardian reveals the secret campaign waged behind the scenes by the greasy oil billionaires, the Koch brothers, and other Big Oil interests to fight wind and solar power and to undermine President Obama’s clean energy policy. In an America where second-hand smoke has led to a ban on smoking […]
On the Separation of Religion and State …. (George Carlin Poster)
Romneynejad: We didn’t have gays in the 1960s
Mitt Romney, accused of harassing gay students when he was in high school, tried to get out of the charge by pretending that being gay was not a big issue in the 1960s. “Romney moved quickly to counter any suggestion he had targeted students because they were gay.” “That was the furthest thing from our […]
The Egyptian Presidential Debate: It is all about Constituencies
Egyptians watched their first national presidential debate with great interest on Thursday evening. The event, sponsored by two television channels and two newspapers, was preceded by an overview of the concept of presidential debates as practiced in America that even showed a clip from Saturday Night Live. As in the US, the debates are a […]
Analysis: Why we must name all drone attack victims (Woods)
Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Sunday’s death of Fahd al-Quso in a CIA drone strike was a significant US success. The admitted al Qaeda bomber had long been sought for his role in the deadly attack on the US navy ship the USS Cole back in 2000. At the Bureau we […]
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