President Barack Obama is seriously considering calling publicly for Syrian President Bashar al-Asad to step down, according to press reports. He is said to be awaiting a briefing by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who met with al-Asad for 6 hours on Tuesday, as Aljazeera English reports:. On Wednesday, the US slapped sanctions on Syria’s […]
Archives for August 2011
Jordan Plans Green Star Trek Theme Park
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has big plans to renovate the port of Aqaba, and among them is the building of a $1.5 billion Star Trek theme park powered by green energy. King Abdullah of Jordan is a huge Star Trek fan, and appeared in a cameo in Star Trek: Voyager: The mixture of futurism, […]
London Riots: Its the Economy, Stupid (Not a Clash of Civilizations)
The unfortunate riots in Tottenham in London tell us a great deal about the problems of immigrant communities, and what they say to us most eloquently is that people want to be treated with justice. They want to be treated in accordance with a rule of law, and not singled out for extra policing on […]
50 US & NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan in Past Week
Another US helicopter got into trouble on Sunday, and had to make a hard landing in the eastern Paktia province, though no one aboard was hurt. It may have been forced down by Taliban fire. Seven US & NATO troops have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan in the past 48 hours, on top of […]
Syria Cracks down on Hama Again
Tens of thousands of Syrians demonstrated on August 5, the first Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, amid regime crackdowns that were especially harsh in Hama, with some 13 killed there on Friday alone. Aljazeera English reports on the Syrian government’s severe repression, especially in Hama: AJE also reports on government’s rationale that […]
Downgraded US Credit Rating: What comes of Coddling the Super-Rich
The decision of Standard & Poor to downgrade the credit rating of the United States of America from AAA to AA+ was clearly based on uncertainty in two major areas. The first and least important was the wrangling on the debt ceiling, which took the US to the brink of not being able to meet […]
Rebels claim Leader of Feared Khamis Brigade Dead
Free Libya forces are making unconfirmed allegations that Gen. Khamis Qaddafi has been killed in a NATO airstrike on a military outpost at Zlitan near Misrata. Khamis leads the feared Khamis Brigades, who are accused of using tanks, artillery and cluster bombs against civilians in Misrata. The Brigades is among the most lethal units among […]
Toothless UNSC Condemnation of Syria shows Russian, Chinese Clout
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday issued a “presidential statement,” one step below a resolution, chiding the Syrian government for its violent repression of protests (but also condemning violence by the protesters, which is a little like complaining that Jack the Ripper’s victims tried to scratch him with their fingernails). The statement was hailed […]
Mubarak on Trial but W. Is Not
The July 8 protests spearheaded by young Egyptian leftists to demand accountability and transparency were rewarded Wednesday by publicly broadcast trial proceedings against former president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, and several associates. The sight of Mubarak, on a hospital bed in the in-court cage where the accused are kept during the proceedings, was electrifying […]
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