US politics

(By Juan Cole) I was privileged to see a special screening of Jose Antonio Vargas’s breathlessly awaited documentary, “Documented,” when I was in Los Angeles last week, and honored to meet Vargas himself along with executive producer Janet Wang (“The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs Larry Flynt”). The film was shown in a class […]

Barack Obama

Obama Quips at White House Correspondents Dinner: ‘Orange is the New Black’

Juan Cole

CBSNews.com Web Extras: “President Obama skewers the press, pols, and Obamacare at correspondents dinner” AFP reports: Obama yuks it up with Washington reporters (via AFP) President Barack Obama cracked jokes about the government’s disastrous health care policy rollout and mocked political opponents at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The annual event, known informally as the […]

Bush

Condoleezza Rice, Charged with War Crimes at Rutgers, withdraws as Commencement Speaker

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Condoleezza Rice on Saturday pulled out of giving the commencement address at Rutgers University after professor and student protests. Rutgers historian Professor Rudy Bell argued that while it would be appropriate to have Rice on campus as part of an academic debate, she is unsuitable as a commencement speaker because of her […]

Christians

Alabama’s chief justice: Muhammad didn’t create us so 1st Amendment only protects Christians

Juan Cole

Speaking at the Pastor for Life Luncheon, which was sponsored by Pro-Life Mississippi, Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment only applies to Christians because “Buddha didn’t create us, Mohammed didn…

Featured

In Deep South where GOP Rejected Obamacare, tens of 1000s die Unnecessarily every Year

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Center for Disease Control house found that 900,000 people a year die of five leading causes every year in the US, and that 20% to 40% of these deaths are preventable (i.e. 180,000 to 360,000 needn’t die). The five are heart disease, cancer, lung disease, stroke and unintentional injury. Smoking cigarettes […]

Bush

Top 10 Attacks on US Embassies in Republican Administrations that Lindsey Graham doesn’t Care about

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Republicans in Congress keep beating the dead horse of Benghazi. Now they have sprung a briefing memo for Susan Rice, based on CIA talking points. I shows that the briefing hewed to the CIA line of the time, which was that the Benghazi disturbances were copy cats of those in Cairo, […]

Crime

Why Oklahoma’s Botched Execution is an Argument for ending Death Penalty

Juan Cole

Yet more evidence that the death penalty is cruel and inhumane arrived today at 8:00PM from the state of Oklahoma. Charles Warner, convicted of raping and murdering an 11-month-old girl, found his execution stayed today after the attempted execution…

Climate Change

Fox censors ‘Scientific American’ editor on Climate Change because, Future

Juan Cole

(By Scott Kaufman) ‘Scientific American’ editor: Fox censored my discussion of climate change as ‘future trend’ (via Raw Story ) Scientific American editor Michael Moyer went on Fox & Friends this morning to discuss “Tech trends for the next decade and beyond,” which producers told him did not, under any circumstances, involve certain issues: Fox […]

Constitution

Former FBI Agent: NYPD’s Muslim-Spying Demographics Unit Was Almost Completely Useless

Juan Cole

Certain demographics are desirable. 18-34? Taste-makers and early adopters. 35-49? Money. Muslim and New York City resident? Being a member of this group meant (until recently) having First Amendment-protected activities being closely scrutinized by…