(By Tom Engelhardt) Isn’t there something strangely reassuring when your eyeballs are gripped by a “mystery” on the news that has no greater meaning and yet sweeps all else away? This, of course, is the essence of the ongoing tale of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Except to the relatives of those on […]
Archives for April 2014
Top 5 Things wrong with US AID Social Media Plot Against Cuba
(By Juan Cole) The US Agency for International Development established a microblogging platfrom similar to Twitter for Cubans. It used it to promote critical discussion of the government but also to gather private information of users. Covert operations are supposed to be approved by the White House but it is not clear this one was. […]
Ted Cruz Pwned by own Facebook Poll on Obamacare (Young Turks)
Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks: “Facebook Poll Hilariously Backfires On Senator” Crooks & Liars writes: Ted Cruz, Don’t Ask The Question If You Don’t Want To Know The Answer (via http://crooksandliars.com) Ted Cruz thought he could rile up his followers on Facebook by posting the following “straw poll”: Quick poll: Obamacare was signed into […]
Supreme Court enshrines Plutocracy, but Dissent says Conservatives Substituted Opinion for Fact
Central to the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decisions in the John Roberts era is that the government’s only legitimate interest in this area is preventing direct, quid pro quo corruption — a donor demanding that a specific law be passed, or…
Alarming new study makes today’s climate change more comparable to Earth’s worst mass extinction
Posted on 2 April 2014 by howardlee The Permian Mass Extinction 251.9 million years ago, otherwise known as “The Great Dying,” was the closest this planet has come to extinguishing all complex life on Earth. Around 90% of all species died out in…
Get ready for More Disappearing Airliners: Obama moots giving Syrian Rebels Anti-Aircraft Missiles
(By James McMichael [jamesmcmichael.dc@gmail.com]) President Obama is considering supplying Syrian rebels with Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (Manpads). These antiaircraft missiles are small enough to be carried and fired by a single person; they can destroy jet fighters and civilian airliners alike. If President Obama gives his approval for their supply to Syrian rebels, he will […]
The Paradox of Turkey’s Victorious Erdogan: Authoritarianism burnishes his ‘democratic’ credentials
(By Niall Finn) Sunday’s local elections was the first time the Turkish people have had a chance to vote since last summer’s Gezi Park movement rocked the country. Although the protests sparked an almost continuous period of political crisis for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), they have again emerged as Turkey’s largest political party with […]
Ft. Hood & the True Cost of Iraq & Afghanistan Wars: Nearly 1 mn traumatized: PTSD by the Numbers
(By Juan Cole) The Ft. Hood shooter who left 3 victims dead yesterday had been being assessed for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had served for 4 months at the tail end of the Iraq War in 2011 and suffered from anxiety and depression. A staggering 1 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have […]
Jon Stewart/ Daily Show: Adelson will accept “Outer Israel” as term for Occupied West Bank
The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook Jon Stewart and Samantha Bee of The Daily Show send up “Zionist billionaire” Sheldon Adelson’s recent attempt to buy Republican presidential candidates and his imposition on them of euphemisms about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.