Gil Scott-Heron is dead at 62. Ironically, his obituary will not be televised because television news became just what he predicted. In memoriam:
G8 ‘Marshall Plan’ for Arab Spring Nations Falls Short
The 8 wealthiest industrial countries, meeting at the G-8, urged that the world give Egypt, Tunisia and liberated Libya (’emerging democracies in the Arab world’) some $40 billion in aid. The sum will make headlines but there is less to it than meets the eye. The G8 is only ponying up $10 billion itself, and […]
Congress: Yankee Come Home; Iraq, Pakistan: Yankee Go Home
Between 70,000 and 100,000 members of the Sadrist Shiite political bloc rallied in Baghdad on Thursday, demanding that the some 47,000 US troops still in Iraq leave altogether. Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr says that if the troops remain, he will reactivate his Mahdi Army militia. It is a powerful threat. But in some ways, his […]
Israelis Support Obama over Bibi
More evidence that Israel derangement syndrome is a malady among the American political class and a narrow sliver of the AIPAC elite, but that most Israelis and most American Jews are far more pragmatic and humane. 57 % of Israelis support Barack Obama’s speech on Middle East peace, and are critical of that of Israeli […]
The Secret Patriot Act
Dear Tea Party: If all your distrust of the federal government doesn’t cause you to vote against the so-called PATRIOT Act, your tea is weak. Very weak. Spencer Ackerman reports that Rep. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is worried about a “secret PATRIOT Act”– that is, a set of practices and inquiries into the affairs of private […]
Top 5 Arab Spring Stories Today
1. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his sons will stand trial for ordering deadly force to put down protesters in Egypt (several hundred were killed), as well as for corruption. Aljazeera English reports: The trial, while it is intended to strengthen the rule of law, is attended with dangers. It could stiffen resistance of […]
Selective Outrage about War
This poster at reddit.com compares the various costs of Bush’s illegal war in Iraq to those of the UN /NATO intervention in Libya (which is not illegal in internationaL law) and asks you to guess which one Republicans are angry about.
Rand Paul on Patriot Act Extension puts Obama to Shame
Sen. Rand Paul is among the few in Congress to oppose the 4-year extension of the misnamed PATRIOT Act, which violates the 4th Amendment against baseless and warrantless search of personal effects.
Top Ten Green Energy Good News Stories
1. German Chancellor Angela Merkel became a green energy hawk after Fukushima. She wants to phase out Nuclear energy and coal, and move quickly to renewables. 2. A team headed by Patrick Pinhero, associate professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia, has invented a flexible solar sheet that dramatically improves the efficiency of […]
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