By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Bill Barrow of the Associated Press took a look at the specifics of plans for US troop deployments in the Middle East put forward by some of the GOP presidential hopefuls. Several Republican politicians have pledged a return of US combat troops in large numbers to […]
Archives for August 2015
Young Muslim-American entrepreneurs Fight ISIL Online
Ayman Mohyeldin | (NBC News Video report) “Startups are launching to help young Muslims, who might fall to ISIS’ luring appeal, grapple with issues of identity and religion.” NBC News: “Young Entrepreneurs Step Up Anti-ISIS Message Online | NBC Nightly News”
How Black Lives Matter is making Bernie Sanders a better candidate
By Kate Aronoff | ( Waging Nonviolence) If you spent any time in the progressive blogosphere this past week and a half, chances are that you have some feelings about activists in Seattle disrupting a rally for Bernie Sanders last weekend. To recap: On two Saturdays ago, Black Lives Matter Seattle organizers Marissa Johnson and […]
Egypt’s “Terrorism” Law Violates “Fundamental Freedoms”
By Kitty Stapp | (Inter Press Service) | – – NEW YORK (IPS) – Egyptian authorities are already holding a record number of journalists behind bars, and a draconian new anti-terror law signed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday will further broaden the crackdown on dissent, press freedom groups warn. It imposes heavy penalties […]
First Time at the Rodeo? (Political Cartoon)
Paul Jamiol | (Jamiol’s World) | – Via Jamiol’s World
The Long Knives Come out in Baghdad
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In principle, the idea of streamlining the Iraqi government and making it more efficient is a capital one. But the reforms being pursued by Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi have to raise some questions about the direction the country is taking. One step al-Abadi has taken announced […]
Gaza: Managing the Disaster isn’t Enough; not one of 11,000 buildings repaired
By Charlie Hoyle | (Inter Press Service) | – – The rubble of twisted concrete and metal bakes in the hot Mediterranean sun of a regional heat wave. A year on from Israel’s 51-day military operation in 2014, not a single one of the 11,000 destroyed homes in Gaza has been rebuilt. Photo credit: UNRWA […]
California at the Cutting Edge of our new Mega-Drought Normal
By William deBuys | ( Tomdispatch.com) – – Long ago, I lived in a cheap flat in San Francisco and worked as the lone straight man in a gay construction company. Strangely enough, the drought now strangling California brings back memories of those days. It was the 1970s. Our company specialized in restoring the Victorian […]
Is Wind Energy taking over the Planet and Saving it?
By Nicole Jewell | (Fix.com) | – – Renewable energy has come a long way in a relatively short time. But there are still many questions about the cost effectiveness and feasibility of investing in renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power, especially on an individual level. Solar power has led the renewable […]