Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk is now more or less admitting what has long been suspected: The Bush administration established a secret CIA prison in Poland and had Polish security officials help torture al-Qaeda suspects there. These steps were unconstitutional in Poland on two grounds: first, high Polish officials surrendered sovereignty over Polish territory to […]
Top 5 Dangers that the Syria Conflict could Destabilize its Neighbors
Aljazeera English (below) asks whether the Syria crisis will spill over onto neighbors and what impact it may have on the region. Aljazeera English reports: In fact, the longer the crisis goes on, the more likely it is that it will have consequences for its neighbors… 5. As Syrian refugees flow into Turkey, the possibility […]
Omar Khayyam (73)
Clouds rolled in and wept tears on the field. Without wine, purple flowers cannot grow. The greenery provides pleasant scenery for me today. For whose delight will my remains nurture grass tomorrow? Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 73
Happy Palestine Land Day: Israel Earmarks 10% of West Bank for Settlements: White
Ben White writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: It has just come out that the Israeli military has earmarked ten percent of the land in the Occupied West bank for Israeli settlements. In addition, the Israeli government is moving forward with an outrageous plan that will mean the expulsion of tens of thousands […]
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The Palestine Land Day post is now here (click)
Tomgram: John Feffer, Islamophobia, Obama, and the Art of Acting Muslim
Those who fervently believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim generally practice their furtive religion in obscure recesses of the Internet…
Divided Arab League Won’t Call for al-Assad to Step Down
The Arab League is meeting in Baghdad for the first time in 22 years, in the absence of long-time fixtures such as Zein El Abidin Ben Ali of Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen– all overthrown by the popular uprisings of 2011-12. Of the remaining two […]
Scalia and the Uninsured Children (Cartoon)
Omar Khayyam (96): Against Astrology
The good and bad that are in human nature, the joy and grief that are in fate and destiny– do not attribute them to the movement of heavenly bodies; for according to the path of science, the stars are a thousand times more helpless than you. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 96
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