By Astra Taylor and Hannah Appel via Tomdispatch.com Imagine corporations that intentionally target low-income single mothers as ideal customers. Imagine that these same companies claim to sell tickets to the American dream — gainful employment, the chance for a middle class life. Imagine that the fine print on these tickets, once purchased, reveals them to […]
The Syrian Maelstrom: How Repression, Drought & Climate Change Drove the Civil War
By Tareq Ramadan Long before March of 2011, when Syrian demonstrations calling for reform and in some cases, regime change, morphed into a full-blown military conflict that has transformed into a supranational bloodbath, the economic and political policies of Bashar Al-Assad’s Baa’thist regime undoubtedly fomented major discontent among various segments of Syria’s population. While both […]
13 Years after US started Bombing it, Afghanistan Still Unstable
News Analysis: Afghan Deal Leaves Room For National Disunity By Frud Bezhan via RFE/RL After months of wrangling and high tension, Afghanistan has finally named a president-elect. Ashraf Ghani's name was officially entered into the books as the winner of the highly contentious, fraud-marred contest, shortly after he and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a […]
Largest Climate Rally ever in New York City, other World Capitals
By Deirdre Fulton, Commondreams.org Global mobilization is exceeding expectations on Sunday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets demanding action on climate change on the eve of the UN Climate Summit. In addition to the massive action in New York City, People’s Climate demonstrations took place in cities and towns across continents, […]
I lived to see the Day when thousands of Kurds take Refuge in Turkey
Reuters: “About 60,000 Syrian Kurds flee into Turkey in the space of 24 hours, a deputy prime minister says, as Islamic State fighters seize dozens of villages close to the border. Sarah Toms reports.” For anyone who knows the history of the Turkish government’s dirty war against Kurdish separatists in the 1970s and 1980s, it […]
“Operation Ice ISIS”: ‘Anonymous’ Hackers take on Extremist Group on Social Media
France24: ” This week #TECH24 brings you an EXCLUSIVE interview with Anonymous on why (and how) the collective decided to join the fight against the ‘Islamic State’ Group.” France24: “Anonymous Vs ISIS”
Heresy & Superheroes: Broken legs, death threats and fatwas: the trials and tribulations of THE 99
By Naif Al-Mutawa Many years ago, I was the volleyball counsellor at a summer camp in New England. It was 1990 and I was fit for five minutes. It seems there’s always an injury I can blame my (lack of) fitness on. That summer was no different. Running into the lake, I slipped. My hands […]
Iraq: Are Sunni Arabs of Kirkuk Province Turning on ISIL?
Ahmad Mohammed | Kirkuk | via Niqash.org Sunni Muslim extremists continue to kidnap, execute and otherwise impose their authoritarian rule on locals in the areas they control, such as in southwestern Kirkuk. Slowly but surely though, local resistance against them is growing. Tribal leaders suggest an organized, salaried force is in development. On the 12th […]
How The Koch Brothers Corrupted Florida State University (+163 Other Colleges) (Young Turks)
Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks “In 2007, when the Charles Koch Foundation considered giving millions of dollars to Florida State University’s economics department, the offer came with strings attached. First, the curriculum it funded must align with the libertarian, deregulatory economic philosophy of Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and Republican political bankroller. Second, the […]