Yemeni president for life Ali Abdullah Saleh nearly reached the end of his term on Friday, when rockets slammed into the mosque where he was praying in congregation. His prime minister was wounded and 4 others were killed, and he suffered some flesh wounds, later coming on t.v. to deny rumors that he had been […]
Libya Rebels take Key Western Mountains, Train Women Fighters
The Free Libya forces centered at Benghazi are turning out to have a vivid political imagination. For instance, they are training female soldiers for the fight against the Qaddafi brigades: Women guerrillas are not new in the Arab world, and women played important roles in the Algerian war of liberation (1954-1962) and in the Palestinian […]
Top Struggles in the Arab Spring Today
The Arab Spring began with peaceful protests in Tunis, Cairo, Alexandria, and elsewhere in the region, with masses of demonstrators giving their elites a choice of getting rid of the country’s dictator or of attempting to put down the demonstrations. In Tunisia and Egypt, the military refused for the most part to fire on peaceful […]
US Should Move Navy Base from Bahrain
In the wake of the brutal crackdown by the monarchy of Bahrain on the largely peaceful protest movement this winter and spring, the United States needs to decouple from the small Gulf kingdom. Although the kingdom is lifting its state of emergency, distrust and tension remain high between the Shiite majority and the dominant Sunni […]
Carbon Emissions Record, Food to Double in Price
It is hard to decide which is the worst news in the International Energy Agency’s new study. The central piece of bad news is that as the world recovers from the 2008-2009 crash, it is spewing record amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In 2010 human beings sent 30.6 gigatons of carbon into the […]
Yemen in Flames
The political situation in Yemen continued to deteriorate on Tuesday. Since Sunday, 50 protesters have been killed by troops and security forces in the country’s second-largest city, Taizz. The government insisted on forcibly removing the protesters from their own version of Tahrir Square, which accounts for some of the casualties of the past two days, […]
Time to Begin Leaving Afghanistan
Memorial Day, in my view, should be a time of reflection not only on the sacrifices made for the nation in war but on whether our wars are necessary and whether they are being fought in the right way. The Iraqi people and the parliament want the US out of Iraq, and the US public […]
Egypt Lets Palestinians of Gaza Circulate
The new, transitional Egyptian government formed in the wake of a popular revolt took a step on Saturday toward lifting the Israeli-induced blockade of the civilian population of Gaza. Egypt, at Israeli insistence, is still blocking import of needed material such as concrete, necessary to rebuilding the 1/8 of homes destroyed by the Israelis in […]
The Revolution was not Televised: Gil Scott-Heron RIP
Gil Scott-Heron is dead at 62. Ironically, his obituary will not be televised because television news became just what he predicted. In memoriam: