By Juan Cole al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has proposed to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi an anti-ISIL axis including Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq that would be led by Iran, as an alternative to the US-led coalition proposed by President Barack Obama. In essence, this is the same […]
Archives for October 2014
Israeli Squatters Sabotage Palestinian Wells in Jordan Valley
JERICHO (Ma’an) — Dozens of Israeli settlers damaged wells belonging to Palestinians in the Khirbet Samra area of the Jordan Valley, a local official said Wednesday. Aref Daraghma, the head of a local village council, told Ma’an that dozens of Israeli settlers who gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot damaged more than seven […]
Iraqi Sunnis to ISIL, US Coalition: A Pox on Both your Houses
Sunni Muslim Militias Decide They Won’t Fight With IS – or The US Alliance By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | via Niqash.org It is clear to both the current Iraqi government, to the US government and to international and local analysts and observers that it is going to take more than aerial bombardment to weed […]
“Don’t Send these Climate Denying Poll-Cats back to Congress: Send them back to Science Class” – Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura “Off The Grid” “Don’t send these Poll-cats back to Congress. Send them back to science class!” Today, Jesse Ventura runs down three of the top Washington republicans, who are screwing up our planet with their anti-science views. Who will make the list? Watch #OffTheGrid today to find out! Got a question for the […]
Top 5 Good News Solar Energy Stories Today
1. Morocco has announced that the first of a planned five solar mega-plants will go operational in 2015. The North African country, which is poor in hydrocarbons, has awarded the bid to a Saudi-based company. Morocco intends to generate 2 gigawatts of energy from solar, in an ambitious program that will cost $9 bn. It […]
If Baghdad & the Kurds are allied against ISIL, why is Baghdad Starving Kurdistan of Money?
From a blogger in the region: Following international media reporting, it is easy to think about war only in terms of uniforms, boots and steel. But the war against the Islamic state has a different face in Iraq. Contrary to the popular game where scissor beats paper, paper will be the biggest threat to the […]
Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying: Interview with Laura Poitras
By Tom Engelhardt and Laura Poitras via Tomdispatch.com Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! stat from our new age of national security. How many Americans have security clearances? The answer: 5.1 million, a figure that reflects the explosive growth of the national security state in the post-9/11 era. Imagine the kind of system needed […]
Dear USA: Liberian-Americans don’t Have Ebola
By Philippa Garson (Follow @PhilippaGarson ) NEW YORK, 17 October 2014 (IRIN) – Africans living in the US from the three Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, are under enormous pressure trying to help their families and ravaged communities back home. And they face an additional challenge: stigma. For the residents of “Little […]
Defying Turkey, US airdrops arms to Kobane Kurds
By Juan Cole In a step that over-ruled America’s Turkish NATO ally, US jets dropped food, first aid and weaponry into the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday morning. Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan, in remarks made on Sunday, rejected the idea of arming the Syrian Kurdish fighters, equating them with terrorists. Al-Khaleej [The […]