(By Erin Evers) Few disagree that the Iraqi government’s increasingly Shia character has alienated its Sunni population—but what has mounting sectarian division meant for the rights of women and girls? Last October, Iraq’s justice minister introduced a draft law to its Council of Ministers which would legalise child marriage and severely affect women’s rights in […]
Invasion of the Corporate Data Snatchers: The Internet of Things
(By Catherine Crump and Matthew Harwood) Estimates vary, but by 2020 there could be over 30 billion devices connected to the Internet. Once dumb, they will have smartened up thanks to sensors and other technologies embedded in them and, thanks to your machines, your life will quite literally have gone online. The implications are revolutionary. […]
Climate Change is hitting us Now & will only Worsen: When will We Start Acting Like Adults?
(By Tom Giesen) Americans tell us through a recent Gallop poll that upward of 65% of them know global warming is happening. However, only 36% feel that it will pose a serious threat to their way of life. But that conclusion is dead wrong; our way of life is changing dramatically. The physical evidence across […]
Turkey: Is Twitter Mightier than Prime Minister Erdogan?
(By Erdağ Göknar via IslamiCommentary) Erdağ Göknar Claiming that Twitter has not responded to Turkish court requests to suspend specific accounts, the Turkish communications ministry blocked Twitter last Friday. Ruling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying, “Twitter schmitter, we’ll put an end to them all. The international community can react however it […]
Big Oil and Gas Wants your Drinking Water, Too: UN
(By Jacob Chamberlain) An unrelenting increase in energy production, including unconventional methods such as tar sands extraction and fracking, will severely damage the world's already dwindling water supply, the UN warned on Friday. "There is an increasing potential for serious conflict between power generation, other water users and environmental considerations," says the World Water Development […]
India’s Massive Youth Vote tilting to Right Wing Hindu Nationalist
(By James Tapper) 100 million new voters are about to transform India (via GlobalPost) NEW DELHI, India — With only a few weeks until India elects its next prime minister, the country’s “demographic dividend” — the young people who provide its best hope of becoming a major economic power — is about to become its […]
Egypt: Military Rule, Arbitrary Jailing of Protesters, and… Public Silence
(By Daniel Nour) This article will probably annoy you. Telling the truth about Egypt, speaking frankly – not appropriately, or prudently, but just plain honestly – is fraught with danger. Doing so will place me in one of two equally awkward scenarios. One the one hand, I shall be called a traitor to Egypt, a […]
Col. Manners on the Protocols of CIA Torture and his Love for the NSA’s Aunt Zelda
(By Tom Engelhardt for Tomdispatch) [Editor’s note]: Our old friend Colonel Manners (ret.) made his first appearance at TomDispatch last October. Today, he’s back for the third time. We have yet to run into anyone more knowledgeable in the mores, manners, and linguistic habits of the national security state. His CV (unfortunately redacted) would blow you away. At […]
Look who’s Complaining about BP being allowed back into the Gulf (Editorial Cartoon)
(By Paul Jamiol) From Jamiol’s World