Special Correspondent | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | – – Late last month the Kurdistan Worker’s Party – an organization some describe as terrorist – declared a region of self-rule in the Qandil mountains. Strangely enough, nobody seems all that upset about their claim. The road into the Qandil mountain area run by the PKK. Only […]
Archives for January 2018
US to Renew Internet Surveillance Program Exposed by Snowden
TeleSur | – – The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to renew a warrantless internet surveillance program, disregarding civil liberties advocates. In a 65-34 vote the United States Senate approved Thursday a bill that renews a warrantless internet surveillance program for six years. The bill will allow the National Security Agency, NSA, to resume evesdropping on […]
With Marijuana Legal, L.A. Makes Amends for damage of the War on Drugs
By Kevon Paynter | ( Yes! Magazine ) | – – The city creates a “social equity” tier of applications who will receive priority for marijuana business permits. Decades of marijuana prohibition in California are coming to an end thanks to ballot initiative Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. Approved by a […]
Russia accuses US of destabilizing Syria with Kurdish-Turkish Clash
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s angry threat to invade a Syrian Kurdish canton in response to the US announcement that it would train and arm a 30,000-man Syrian Kurdish border force produced anxiety in Moscow. Russia has made a big bet, worth billions of rubles and involving […]
Turkey to deploy 60,000 soldiers in bases abroad, including in Qatar
Middle East Monitor |- – 60,000 armed Turkish soldiers will be deployed across four military bases abroad in accordance with a new 2022 plan, The New Khalij reported today. The Turkish National Security Council finalised the plan yesterday, in order to meet Turkey’s military and commercial interests to support its allies. Turkey already has 3,000 […]
Radical White Terrorists committed Most 2017 Killings in US
TeleSur | – – A report by the Anti-Defamation League shows that in 2017 the majority of murders in the U.S. were committed by right-wing, white supremacists. According to a report published by the Center on Extremism of the Anti-Defamation League, ADL, Tuesday, last year witnessed a marked reduction in domestic-extremism related murders and a […]
A Second Korean War, this Time with Nukes?
( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Most people intuitively get it. An American preventive strike to wipe out North Korea’s nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles, or a commando raid launched with the same goal in mind, is likely to initiate a chain of events culminating in catastrophe. That would be true above all for the roughly […]
12 Strong. The Inside Story on the Making of a (Refreshingly Accurate) Hollywood War Epic
By Brian Glyn Williams (with Julie Romei) | (Informed Comment) | – – When I received a phone call from a representative for famed producer Jerry Bruckheimer to visit the remote mountains of New Mexico to see the filming set for the forthcoming Afghan war movie, 12 Strong: The True Declassified Story of the Horse […]
Thanks to all our Generous Supporters for an Amazing Fundraiser
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Many, many thanks to all our very generous and committed contributors for another successful fundraiser! Your donations are key to our plans for a significant redesign and for gradually moving to becoming a magazine. The internet environment is increasingly unpredictable and possibly hostile to small blogs […]