By Kanya D’Almeida | – – UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – Barely 10 months ago, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the refugee population from Syria had reached the three million mark. Today, the latest data from the field show that the number has passed four million. “This is the biggest refugee population from a […]
Archives for July 2015
What is terrorism? The Charleston massacre and Palestinian resistance
By Heike Schotten | (Ma’an News Agency) | – Well before the advent of the US “War on Terror,” Edward Said wrote: “As a word and concept, ‘terrorism’ has acquired an extraordinary status in American public discourse.” Among other things, Said observed the ways in which “terrorism” functioned to deflect attention away from America’s misdeeds […]
Dirty Energy vs. Clean Power The Past Battles the Future at Seneca Lake
By Ellen Cantarow | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Let’s amend the famous line from Joni Mitchell’s “Yellow Taxi” to fit this moment in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. There, Big Energy seems determined to turn paradise, if not into a parking lot, then into a massive storage area for fracked natural gas. […]
South Carolina removes the Physical Flag: Can it remove the Spiritual Illness of Racial Discrimination?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The South Carolina legislature has voted to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the statehouse. It was put there in 1961 as a show of defiance against the Civil Rights movement, i.e. against the demand that the system of legally-imposed segregation of African-Americans cease. […]
Amira Hass: “Let me be blunt: Gaza is a Huge Concentration Camp”
By Amira Hass / Julie Poucher Harbin | ( ISLAMICommentary) | – – by JULIE POUCHER HARBIN, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied Territories This past Spring Amira Hass, correspondent for Haaretz, spoke at the Forum for Scholars and Publics at Duke University. Hass, an Israeli who has won numerous awards for […]
Big Oil, Coal Racketeering: Corp. Memos Reveal Decades of Climate Lies
Union of Concerned Scientists | (Video Report) | – – “For nearly three decades, many of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies have knowingly worked to deceive the public about the realities and risks of climate change. Their deceptive tactics are now highlighted in “The Climate Deception Dossiers,” a new report from the Union of […]
The Rear-View Mirror on Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Bus (Political Cartoon)
James MacLeod | (Political Cartoon) Via MacLeod Cartoons
Why defeating ISIL/ Daesh with military might is starry eyed idealism
By David Alpher | (The Conversation) | – – Just this past weekend of July 4, US-led coalition aircraft targeted the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. It was one of the “largest deliberate engagements to date,” said a coalition spokesman, and it was executed “to deny [ISIS] the ability to move military capabilities throughout […]
As Glaciers Melt in Ecuador, Pope Francis challenges Technocrats, touts “Keeping” the Environment
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pope Francis continues to preach environmentalism as he addresses crowds in Latin America, a challenging message in poor countries where over-exploitation of natural resources is a constant temptation. These are also countries and populations, however, most at risk from pollution and the ravages of climate change. […]