As the tenth anniversary of the launching of the Iraq War approaches, I’ll be making some comments about the episode at this blog, which for the years 2003-2010 intensively covered events in Iraq. A decade is long enough for some things to become clear. The first set of issues I want to discuss has to […]
Archives for March 2013
Iraq’s Teens Drowning in Hopelessness (Arwa Damon)
CNN’s Arwa Damon reports from Baghdad on the sense of hopelessness among even upper-class Iraqi teens today. AFP gives support to Ms. Damon’s findings: a 2011 poll of Iraqi men under 30 found that 89% of them wanted to emigrate from the country. A more upbeat treatment by the Associated Press turns out to depend […]
Remembering Rachel Corrie, 10 Years Later
Rachel Corrie’s parents speak out on the tenth anniversary of her killing by the Israeli operator of a military bulldozer, who ran over her as he approached a Palestinian home he intended to demolish. There were two men in the cockpit, one to observe and the other to drive the machine. Rachel risked her her […]
St. Patrick’s Day Explained (ReportingSatire Video)
ReportingSatire explores St. Patrick’s Day:
By the Numbers: US Drone Strikes on Pakistan “Illegal”
The Guardian reports that Ben Emmerson, the UN’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, says that the Pakistani government has given no tacit consent to US drone strikes according to a search of government records. Therefore, he concludes, the strikes are likely illegal in international law. US drone strikes according to Pakistan government statistics: […]
Can we Get the Media to Report Climate Change? (Bill Moyers Video)
Bill Moyers interviews a prominent scientist on what can be done to bring climate change back into the media discussion: The blurb: “Encore: Ending the Silence on Climate Change March 15, 2013 Remember climate change? The issue barely comes up with any substance in our current political dialogue. But bringing climate change back into our […]
Rising China’s Muslim Problem: What is the Future of the Uygurs? (Alimglu)
JULIE POUCHER HARBIN, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary interviews MUSA ALIMGLU: This week I asked a China and Xinjiang expert — someone who is familiar with China’s ethnic politics and the work of prominent Uyghur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer — to provide some in-depth background on China’s troubled Xinjiang Uygher Autonomous Republic and leadership challenges for the […]
Pope Francis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Women’s Equality: Why Must Religion be Patriarchal?
The selection of the new pope was carried out by a conclave of elderly men, and the only candidates were men. The new pope is a staunch social conservative who opposes women’s ordination as priests and women’s right to control their own bodies and limit family size, key issues for women’s health and well-being. It […]
Why Wasn’t the Higgs Boson Discovered in the US? Neal DeGrasse Tyson explains congressional stupidity
Scientists at a conference in Italy have confirmed the discovery of the Higgs Boson, after further experiments performed at the large hadron collider near Geneva in Switzerland, built in the late ’90s by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) with the cooperation of 10,000 scientists. The Higgs Boson is associated with a field that […]