Update:: The NYT is reporting that on Wednesday morning, more bombings targeted Christians in Baghdad, leaving 3 dead and 28 wounded. Some of those hit were Muslims racing to help Christian neighbors. The bombers are radical Sunni Muslim extremists, “al-Qaeda” in the current parlance though they probably have nothing to do with Usama Bin Laden, […]
Crowds Protest Corruption of Afghan Elections, demand New Polls
Hundreds of Aghans protested Sunday in Kabul against the fraudulent parliamentary elections held this fall in Afghanistan. A quarter of the votes have been thrown out by the electoral commission and hundreds of candidates are under investigation. The protesters want the elections to be re-staged. Losing candidates, or candidates who believe that Karzai’s election commissioners […]
Energy Committee Chairman Candidate Says God Promised no More Catastrophic Climate Change after Noah
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who will seek the Energy and Commerce Committee chairmanship maintains that we do not have to worry about climate change because God promised in the Bible not to destroy the world again after Noah’s flood. The video I posted got pulled by YouTube as ‘spam’, which it isn’t, so I presume […]
Photo of the Day: Beirut’s Split Personality
Posters on a single column in al-Hamra Street, Beirut, August 2010 © Juan Cole, 2010
Gates, the Adult in the Room, Rebuffs Israeli, Republican Warmongering on Iran
The Military-Industrial-Israel Complex is baaack. The victory of the War Party– … ooops, I mean the Republican Party– at the polls on November 2 was sure to embolden Israeli hawks, since the latter are essentially rightwing Republicans whenever they visit the United States. And, so many of the new members of the House of Representatives […]
What does Pakistan think of Obama’s India Trip?
Pakistanis are from all accounts rather miffed that President Barack Obama did not stop in Islamabad as part of his Asian tour. The officer corps is the angriest, but it is viewed widely as a put-down. From a Pakistani point of view, the US and Pakistan have been allies since the 1950s. They stood shoulder […]
MSNBC’s Phil Griffith the Worst Person in the World, as Olbermann Joins Donahue, Banfield
With regard to the ‘indefinite suspension’ of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC for having donated small sums to three Democratic candidates, here is a little piece of irony. Olbermann began his long-running feature, “Worst Person in the World” (which he recently shelved) in reaction to a critic-consultant that NBC hired to advise on shows that needed […]
Over 70 Killed in Mosque Bombings, northwestern Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan) bombed two mosques in Pakistan’s Pashtun northwest on Friday, killing over 70 persons and wounding many others. CSM argues that one of the bombings, in Dara Adam Khel, was a reprisal against the Akhurwal tribe for opposing the Taliban and allying with the Pakistani army. Dara Adam Khel is […]
Bachmann Harms US Economy, Security with Scurrilous Charges about Obama in India
One of the great things about the victory of so many eccentrics in the congressional races of 2010 for bloggers is that we can look forward to at least two years of having lots of fun with them. Of course, old-time funny people have come back, as well, such as cut-up Michele Bachmann. Bachmann is […]
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