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 […]
Is Syria doomed to become Sunni version of Theocratic Iran?
By Hakim Khatib | ( Your Middle East ) – – War in Syria The Syrian upheaval has, increasingly, been fixed in a religious framework – Sunnis against the rest, writes Hakim Khatib. “Non-religious books were substituted by religious or religiously coloured ones” When the crowds of the Iranian revolution initially rose up against Muhammad […]
Israeli troops Suppress Demo for Hunger-Striker Allan, in Coma
By Saed Bannoura – (IMEMC News) Dozens of Palestinians suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, Saturday, after Israeli soldiers assaulted hundreds of residents marching in solidarity with hunger striking detainee Mohammad ‘Allan, in Kufur Qaddoum, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. Morad Eshteiwy, coordinator of the Popular Struggle Committee, said hundreds of […]
ISIL: What nonviolent steps could the US take to defeat it?
By Adil E. Shamoo | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – There may be a responsible way to fight the Islamic State, but the U.S. will have to leave its boots in the closet and the drones in the hangar. The atrocities of ISIS become more shocking every day. In June, the Iraqis exhumed […]
New Proof: AT&T and NSA’s Long Surveillance Partnership shredded 4th Amendment
By Mark Rumold | ( Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – – Reports today in the New York Times and ProPublica confirm what EFF’s Jewel v. NSA lawsuit has claimed since 2008—that the NSA and AT&T have collaborated to build a domestic surveillance infrastructure, resulting in unconstitutional seizure and search of of millions, if not hundreds […]
Is al-Zawahiri’s oath to Taliban a sign al-Qaeda is finished? Will ISIL step In?
By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/ RL ) – – After almost a year of silence, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has released an audio message swearing bay'ah — an oath of allegiance — to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur, the new leader of the Taliban. Zawahri's message is in many ways another response to, and nullification of, […]
Brothers in Arms: Jeb Bush Won’t Say ‘No’ To Future Torture
By Jon Queally, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org | – – ‘This is what happens when you don’t prosecute officials for illegally torturing people.’ While also foregoing the opportunity to condemn the establishment of a torture program authorized and ordered by his brother, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has said he won’t rule out the […]
Turkey Hit by Wave of Attacks as It Continues Mideast Military Strikes
By Anne Koopman | ( Global Voices Online) | – – At least nine people fell victim to a spate of attacks in the Turkey's largest city Istanbul and the south-eastern province Sirnak on August 10. As the country gets knee-deep in the Middle East crisis, the fear of more attacks is pervasive. Ever since […]