Informed Comment - Part 1909

4 Darknesses: Internet being Manipulated, Deceived by Western Intel Trolls

(By Juan Cole) Researchers on online behavior have shown that internet trolls (people who use insincere techniques to disrupt conversations) really are psychopaths, marked by […]

Juan Cole

Saudis 'seek Pakistani arms for Syrian rebels'

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the […]

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Uncategorized

Turkey: Legislating the End of Democracy – 3 Laws for One-Party Rule

(By Ola Claësson) The government’s response to the Gezi protests in June 2013 and its obstruction of a graft probe targeting ministers in December the […]

contributors

Africa

A World built on Slavery

(By Greg Grandin) Many in the United States were outraged by the remarks of conservative evangelical preacher Pat Robertson, who blamed Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake […]

contributors

Economy

The Promise and Existential Risks of Nanotechnology

Video by Dr. Kim Solez on Existential Risks [of Nanotechnology] prepared for the Lifeboat Foundation The Bill Joy video excerpt from the year 2000 in […]

Juan Cole

Eastern Europe

Not to Reason Why: A New Crimean “War”?

(Juan Cole) The Russian-speaking population of the Crimean Peninsula in the Ukraine is upset by the popular movement in the west of the country that […]

Juan Cole

Domestic Surveillance

Not only Big Brother but Big Corporation is Tracking you Online Too

(Via Techdirt) What Happens When You Marry The NSA’s Surveillance Database With Amazon’s Personalized Marketing? (via Techdirt) By now, most people who shop online are […]

Juan Cole

Dissent

Israel’s Curb on Freedom of Speech in Anti-Boycott Law Challenged in Court

(By Bill Van Esveld) On [last] Sunday, nine Israeli Supreme Court justices heard a petition to revoke the country’s “anti-boycott law” – a law that […]

contributors

Lebanon