RT | – The Islamic State has posted a video online showing a group of militants destroying ancient statues and other artifacts, saying they are symbols of idolatry. Some of the objects date from the seventh century BC. Specialists say the damage is incalculable. The video, which appeared online on Thursday, shows monuments and relics […]
Archives for February 2015
Why Netanyahu’s Congress Speech will Fail: Iran Can’t be Stopped, only Monitored
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The conspiracy hatched by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to undermine President Obama’s negotiations with Iran over its civilian nuclear weapons program has a false premise that dooms it. Many Republicans, and Netanyahu, believe that Obama is negotiating a bad deal […]
Jewish Jihad on Palestinians: Israeli Squatters burn mosque near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Extremist Jewish settlers set fire overnight Tuesday to a mosque in the southern West Bank town of al-Jaba west of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. As worshipers arrived around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for the dawn prayer at al-Huda mosque, they saw smoke and flames rising from inside the building. Worshipers alerted […]
Kenya Nomads strap Donkeys with Solar Panels for Mobile Batteries
K24TV | – “Shepherds in Kajiado county have devised an ingenious way of ensuring that that they make full use of the solar power in the county. The residents strap donkeys with solar panels and batteries, which continue charging as the animals graze to later use them to light their Manyattas at night.” K24TV: “Herders […]
Fallout in Gaza: After a War, 120,000 Still Living in Rubble:
VICE News | – “During the devastating 50-day war in Israel and Gaza this past summer, around 18,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving around 120,000 residents homeless. Now, with trouble in neighboring Sinai and infighting between Palestinian factions, reconstruction efforts in the beleaguered Gaza Strip are moving slowly. With the UN […]
The “Christian State” of Idaho?
KXLY ABC | — “Do you think Idaho should be classified as a Christian state? That’s the question the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee will answer Tuesday night. KXLY4’s Aaron Luna reports.” KXLY: “Republicans debating whether Idaho should be a Christian state”
Syria: Daesh/ ISIL takes 150 Christians Captive as 3,000 flee to Hasaka
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Al-Nahar (“The Day,” Beirut) reported that dozens of Assyrian Christians have been abducted by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in Hasakah Province, northeast Syria. Reuters later put the number at 150. The abduction occurred after heavy fighting by Kurdish YPG commandos that included allied Christian fighters versus Daesh attackers in […]
American ‘Exceptionalism’ or just Above the Law? Torture, Drones, Assassination with Impunity
By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) – “The sovereign is he who decides on the exception,” said conservative thinker Carl Schmitt in 1922, meaning that a nation’s leader can defy the law to serve the greater good. Though Schmitt’s service as Nazi Germany’s chief jurist and his unwavering support for Hitler from the night of […]
President Obama vetoes Keystone pipeline bill
RT | — As promised, US President Barack Obama has vetoed a bill from Congress which will halt construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Defying the wishes of the Republican-led House and Senate, the president on Tuesday rejected the years-in-the-making would-be legislation that sought to pave the way for a 1,179-mile pipeline to carry […]