By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Perhaps you’ve heard the expression: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Cartoonist Walt Kelly’s famed possum, Pogo, first uttered that cry. In light of alien disaster movies like the recent sequel Independence Day: Resurgence and America’s disastrous wars of the twenty-first […]
Archives for July 2016
Is Kerry Right? Are Freemen of Syria and Army of Islam Radical Terrorists?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Josh Rogin of the Washington Post caused a stir by noticing something Secretary of State John Kerry said at Aspen last month. Kerry slammed Syrian al-Qaeda (Nusra Front) and Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), then said, “There are a couple of subgroups underneath the two designated — Daesh […]
In Rejecting Carbon Tax HR Clinton is playing Russian Roulette with our Future
Tom Giesen | (Informed Comment) | – – The Clinton presidential campaign has indicated that it will not support a carbon tax. But we simply cannot meet greenhouse gas reduction goals without a price on carbon. How can we take Secretary Clinton’s commitment to climate action seriously if she rejects carbon pricing outright? Clinton’s negligence […]
After Yawning Racial Divide exposed in US, Peaceful Protests Continue
TeleSur | – – Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured defiantly into streets across the U.S. this weekend, shutting down highways, bridges and roads, chanting, praying, cheering and throwing rocks, Molotv cocktails and cinder blocks to protest the police killings of two black men last week in Louisiana and Minnesota, as the population of a […]
Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research has released a report saying that “As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in the world. In 2014, the median level of religious hostilities in the Middle East and North Africa reached a level four times that […]
Why are Saudi-led Airstrikes Targeting Civilian Factories in Yemen?
Human Rights Watch | – – Unlawful Attacks Harm Economy, Show Need for Victim Compensation (Beirut) Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrikes have unlawfully hit numerous factories, warehouses, and other civilian economic structures in Yemen. “The repeated coalition airstrikes on civilian factories appear intended to damage Yemen’s shattered economy long into the future,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, senior […]
Israeli cabinet approves $12.8 million to ‘strengthen’ Kiryat Arba squatter settlement on Palestinian Land
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli cabinet approved on Sunday a 50 million shekel ($12.8 million) plan to “strengthen” the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank, in a move which anti-settlement group Peace Now called a move by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “prioritize […]
Is Iran winning their Mideast Cold War with Saudi Arabia?
By Robert Harvey | (Project Syndicate) | – – LONDON – A cold war is taking place in a very hot place. A key component of the sectarian competition between Shia and Sunni Islam in the Middle East is geopolitical, with Iran facing off against Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies in a struggle for […]
Kurdish Women Fighting ISIL Send Solidarity to BlackLivesMatter
TeleSur | – – “You are among the most radical voices in today’s racist, sexist, capitalist world,” the YPJ wrote to Black Lives Matter. Fighters from the Kurdish Women’s Defense Units or YPJ, have sent a message of solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. “To our black sisters and brothers! […]