By Peter Van Buren | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – One of the most popular apps these days is Snapchat. It allows the sender to set a timer for any photo dispatched via the app, so that a few seconds after the recipient opens the message, the photo is automatically deleted. The evidence of […]
Archives for May 2016
Top 3 Signs Bill Clinton didn’t kill himself to “give” the Palestinians a State
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday claimed “I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state,” and maintained that he secured an agreement, which the Palestinians turned down. In fact, no such text was ever presented to the Palestinian side, and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud […]
Michael Moore Says Flint Water Crisis Is a Racist ‘Hate Crime’
TeleSur | – – Filmmaker Michael Moore calls the Flint water crisis an issue of racism, as the mostly Black and poor residents of the town will now be faced with expensive water bills. American filmmaker and author Michael Moore appeared on the show Real Time With Bill Maher and called the Flint water crisis […]
Britain should stop trying to pretend that its empire was benevolent
By Alan Lester | (The Conversation) | – – The recent debacle of David Cameron’s filmed condemnation of Nigerian and Afghan corruption and the Queen’s remark on Chinese officials’ rudeness highlights the persistence of imperial thinking in Britain. There seems to be a continuing assumption within the British establishment that it sets an example for […]
Americans may see ISIL as No. 1 Threat, but Turkey & the Kurds have other Priorities
By Abbas Djavadi | ( RFE/RL | – – For a long time the Turkish government was accused of assisting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) group. These accusations were heard especially since the battle Syrian Kurds fought with ISIS over the town of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border almost a year ago. […]
Top Hizbullah Commander in Syria killed in Explosion; Radical Salafis blamed
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Mustafa Badreddine, the Hizbullah commander responsible for Syria, was killed Friday in an explosion near Damascus. It wasn’t clear whether he was hit by artillery fire or what. The US now has a tacit alliance of convenience with Lebanon’s Hizbullah against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), but continues […]
The Danger Of Dictatorship: How To Replace Iraq’s Flawed Political System?
By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iraq’s Parliament has failed its people. This was the message from protestors last week. But what could possibly replace the flawed system? Each potential solution comes with its own dangers. Protestors left Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone last week, after having spent two days expressing […]
Left For Dead: Myanmar’s Muslim Minority
VICE News | (Video report) | – – “In recent years, democratic reforms have swept through Myanmar, a country that for decades was ruled by a military junta. As the reforms took hold, however, things were growing progressively worse for the Rohingya, a heavily persecuted ethnic Muslim minority concentrated in the country’s western state of […]
Surprise! Despite Syria-Iraq Turmoil, Major Mideast Economies growing 3-4%
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When you only hear bad news from a place, you form a negative opinion of it. But when I went looking for news about the economies of the most populous Middle Eastern countries, I was surprised to find that the IMF and/or World Bank is seeing […]