(By Juan Cole) Trying to close down social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube has been a desperate ploy of dictatorial regimes throughout the world. It doesn’t work very well, since typically users find workarounds. But what is interesting is why authoritarian regimes make the attempt in the first place. At midnight last night, […]
Archives for March 2014
US Special Interest Groups in the Middle East Peace Process
(by Mahmoud M.A. Abdou) In this post, Mahmoud Abdou presents a summary of his book The Middle East Peace Process and U.S. Special Interest Groups. The Middle East Peace Process and U.S. Special Interest Groups is meant as a contribution towards resolving the puzzle regarding the actual clout of pro-Israel U.S. special interest groups by […]
Google’s Larry Page: We can’t Have NSA Spying and a Functioning Democracy
Google’s Page says US online spying threatens democracy (via AFP) Google co-founder Larry Page on Wednesday condemned US government snooping on the Internet as a threat to democracy. His comments came during an on-stage chat at a prestigious Technology Entertainment Design gathering, where a day earlier fellow Google… ——- Related video: Bloomberg News: “What […]
Climate Change: ‘Abrupt,’ ‘Unpredictable,’ ‘Irreversible’ and ‘Highly Damaging’
In a rare move, the world’s largest scientific society released a report nudging the public to wake up to the scientifically sound and increasingly frightening reality of climate change. “As scientists, it is not our role to tell people what they…
Col. Manners on the Protocols of CIA Torture and his Love for the NSA’s Aunt Zelda
(By Tom Engelhardt for Tomdispatch) [Editor’s note]: Our old friend Colonel Manners (ret.) made his first appearance at TomDispatch last October. Today, he’s back for the third time. We have yet to run into anyone more knowledgeable in the mores, manners, and linguistic habits of the national security state. His CV (unfortunately redacted) would blow you away. At […]
On Iranian New Year, Russia hints it May Swing Support to Tehran over Crimea Sanctions
(By Juan Cole) Iran may have gotten a New Year’s gift via the Crimea crisis, as Russia threatens to play the Iran card over proposed US sanctions. As I argued in the New York Times, Russia and Iran are being driven closer to one another as both are now under a US and Western European […]
The Northern Storm Brigade: It’s History, Current Status, and Why It Matters By Chris Looney
The Northern Storm Brigade: It’s History, Current Status, and Why It Matters By Chris Looney [clooney@colgate.edu] reporting from Turkey For Syria Comment, March 18, 2014 The Northern Storm Brigade (NSB: Arabic – Liwa Asifat al-Shamal) has been called many things since it was first formed in the early days of the uprisings in Syria. […]
Climate Change and the Rise of Genghis Khan
Mild weather may have propelled rise of Genghis Khan (via AFP) A pleasantly warm and wet spell in central Mongolia eight centuries ago may have propelled the rise of Genghis Khan, according to a US study Monday. The research was based on an analysis of tree rings spanning 11 centuries, showing that the conqueror… […]
Look who’s Complaining about BP being allowed back into the Gulf (Editorial Cartoon)
(By Paul Jamiol) From Jamiol’s World
© 2024 All Rights Reserved