Economy

Anthony Bourdain on Palestinians: “The World has visited many terrible things on” them, robbed of their Humanity

Anthony Bourdain: it is something we do all the time: “Show regular people doing everyday things–cooking and enjoying meals… It is a measure, I guess, of how twisted and shallow our depiction of the people is that these images come as a shock to so many. The world has visited many terrible things on the […]

Censors

When the McCarthyites tried to Ban “Robin Hood” as a Communist; and the Green Feather Movement

contributors

(By Alison Kysia) On November 13, 1953, during the height of the McCarthy era, Robin Hood and his band of “merry outlaws” made headlines. Mrs. Thomas J. White of the Indiana Textbook Commission called for a ban of Robin Hood in all school books for promoting communism because he stole from the rich to give […]

Climate Change

India-Pakistan Solar Energy Race? Desert Solar Park among world’s Largest

contributors

Pakistan’s first large-scale solar power project, the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park project, was recently inaugurated by Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, representing one of the country’s first clear steps towards renewable energy. The project…

Democracy

After Occupy: Is Economic Democracy Possible?

contributors

(A conversation on economic democracy with Tom Malleson via OUP) How do we address the problem of inequality in capitalist societies? Tom Malleson, the author of After Occupy: Economic Democracy for the 21st Century, argues that by making sure that democracy exists in both our economy and in our government, we may be able to […]

Central Asia

The Eurasian Pivot: Is it China’s and Russia’s Century?

contributors

(By Pepe Escobar via Tomdispatch) HONG KONG — A specter is haunting Washington, an unnerving vision of a Sino-Russian alliance wedded to an expansive symbiosis of trade and commerce across much of the Eurasian land mass — at the expense of the United States. And no wonder Washington is anxious. That alliance is already a […]

Economy

Under World Cup Pressure, Qatar reforms Guest Worker Laws, abolishes Sponsorship System

Juan Cole

Qatar to end sponsorship system for foreign workers (via AFP) Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said Wednesday it will abolish its controversial sponsorship system for foreign workers, whose treatment in the energy-rich state has stirred mounting international criticism. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described… ——- AFP: “Qatar to end sponsorship system for […]

Dissent

Fracking Victims demand Environmental Protection Agency Intervention

Juan Cole

(By Lauren McCauley) The 150 million Americans routinely exposed to toxic air as a result of oil and gas drilling need better protection from their government, demanded a coalition of 64 environmental and community groups, who on Tuesday filed a petition (pdf) asking the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the air pollutants emitted […]

Economy

5 Reasons India’s new BJP (“Tea Party”) Government may not be so Great for Business

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s elections is being hailed in some Western media as a hopeful sign for US-Indian trade and for Indian business. But like the US Tea Party movement, it is rent by internal contradictions that could derail such aspirations. The BJP has many resemblances […]

Dissent

FCC Votes To “Fast Track” Death Of Net Neutrality

Juan Cole

There’s good news: the nationwide outcry against the Federal Communications Commission’s troublesome proposal for new Open Internet rules is clearly having an impact. At a public meeting this morning, commissioners were factoring in questions that…