By Raymond Bonner | (Special to ProPublica) |- – This story was co-published with The Daily Beast. As the Senate debated a proposal earlier this month that would have barred gun sales to people on the government’s terrorism watch lists, Republicans decried the lists as unfair, unreliable and un-American. “There’s no due process or any […]
Archives for December 2015
Flash Point: Could Turkey block Russian access to Mediterrranean?
By Tony Wesolowsky | ( RFE/ RL) | – – Could Turkey block Russia’s access to one of the world’s most strategic waterways? That question has arisen with mutual relations in a southward spiral since the Turkish air force downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on November 24. It arguably took on added […]
Sign of new Intifada? Majority of Palestinians support knife attacks
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The majority of Palestinians support the recent string stabbing attacks against Israelis, a poll released Monday found. The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research (PCPR), found that 67 percent of Palestinians support the use of knife attacks in the current confrontations with […]
Top 5 Ways Saudi Arabia really could fight Terrorism, & not by a Vague Coalition
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Over the past three days, Saudi Arabia has abruptly put together a 35-nation Muslim coalition to fight terrorism. Saudi interest in this fight is not new, and the kingdom itself has suffered from armed non-governmental groups targeting innocent non-combatants. In 2003-2006, al-Qaeda and other extremist cells […]
Spectaculection: Bread, Circuses and decline of US Media
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Sometimes what matters most takes up every inch of space in the room and somehow we still don’t see it. That’s how I feel about our present media moment. Let me put it this way: I’m a creature of habit, and one of those habits has long […]
GOP Congress plans $100 bn. tax cut as Xmas Present for Corporations
By Jessica Schieder | (Otherwords.org) | – – This year-end tax package is a grab bag of gifts for corporations and a lump of coal for working families. Given the commitment House Republicans profess to balancing the federal budget, you’d think tax breaks for profitable businesses would be a low priority. But this holiday season, […]
Trump, Daesh/ ISIL, and the Cliché of Civilizations
By By John Feffer | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – A few politicians and intellectuals decry "Islamofascists," but the real target of Islamophobia is the mainstream Islam of mosques, moderate imams, and your friendly Muslim neighbors. I was listening to a German parliamentarian the other night. She was making some anodyne comments about […]
Int’l Criminal Court group will fact-find in Israeli-Occupied Palestine
Ma’an News Agency | – – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A delegation from the International Criminal Court is expected to visit the occupied Palestinian territory in February, a Palestinian Authority offical said. A member of a national committee in charge of follow-up with the ICC, Wasel Abu Yusif, told Ma’an that the visit will include ongoing […]
With Oil at $36/barrel, Have Democrats just Won the Presidency?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The price of petroleum fell Monday to levels not seen since the crash of 2008, at one point hitting $35 a barrel in New York. There is every reason to expect prices to remain low for a few years, and they could easily go lower as […]