(By Juan Cole) Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Monday that the bulk collection by the National Security Agency of cell phone data (everyone you called, when you called them and where you were when you called them) of Americans violates the Fourth Amendment to the […]
Archives for December 2013
Syrian Christians Menaced by Extremist Sunnis, Slam Lack of Lebanese Support
Layal Abu Rahhal reported in Arabic from Beirut for al-Sharq al-Awsat [The Middle East] on the dilemmas of Syrian Christians and their Lebanese neighbors, Dec. 13, 2013. This is my paraphrase, influenced by the translation done by BBC Monitoring: Considering what the Christians of Syria are facing, Christians in Lebanon are raising alarums about the […]
Photo of the Day: Pyramids in Giza at Sunset
h/t Ahl Misr Zaman
How Peter O’Toole Saved the Arabs (According to David Lean)
(By Juan Cole) The late Peter O’Toole played T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s 1963 “Lawrence of Arabia” with genius and abandon. All of us in my generation who went into Middle East studies were influenced by that film one way or another. Only later did it gradually become apparent to many of us how flawed […]
Dozens Killed by Regime Barrel Bombs in Aleppo, half of them Children
The Lebanese newspaper al-Nahar reports that the Syrian air force bombed Aleppo on Sunday with makeshift barrel bombs, killed at least 36 persons, including 15 children. They targeted neighborhoods controlled by rebels in the country’s largest city, in the north of the country. The Aleppo Information Center made up of activist citizen journalists said that […]
Saudi activist sentenced to 300 lashes, 4 yrs in jail after calling for constitutional monarchy
A Saudi Arabian political activist was sentenced to four years in prison, 300 lashes, and a travel ban after calling for a constitutional monarchy. He is the fourth member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) to be jailed this year.Read Full Article at RT.com
Tunisia Holocaust Conference Honors 5,000 Forced Into Labor Camps, Deportees
A conference commemorating the effects of the Holocaust on Tunisian Jews is being held in Tunis. Click here for the rest of the article…
Is our Media Screwing us on Climate the Way it Did on Iraq?
Like The Iraq War, Media Fails To Report On Climate Change Accurately (via Clean Technica) Originally published on Skeptical Science. By Stephan Lewandowsky. “Iraq is developing a long-range ballistic missile system that could carry weapons of mass destruction up to 700 miles.” Iraq is progressing towards “dirty bombs that spew radioactivity… Related video: Eric […]
The 1% is Hogging so much of our Income that it’s Holding the Economy Back
(By Anthony W. Orlando) Over the past few years, I have encountered a lot of myths about the so-called “One Percent.” Now that my book Letter to the One Percent has been published, I’d like to share one of the most pernicious myths with you. We all know that inequality has been rising and the […]