Two gigawatts (GW) worth of new large-scale solar energy projects will soon be constructed in the nation of India, according to the country’s finance minister Shri Chidambaram. During his interim budget speech earlier this week, Chidambaram stated…
The Decline and Fall of the Turkish Model
(By Erdağ Göknar for IslamiCommentary) Erdağ Göknar Most observers agree that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has mishandled the current political crisis. The AKP, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, once aspired to civil society and pluralism, but has recently embraced a strain of single-party authoritarianism. The government has sought increased control […]
Darkening of Melting Arctic Amplifying Global Warming from CO2
(By Jacob Chamberlain) One of nature's key defenses against global warming—the reflection of the sun's rays away from Earth by Arctic sea ice—has fallen victim to… global warming. And according to a study published Monday, the vicious feedback loop is worse than previously thought. The new research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy […]
Turkey: Legislating the End of Democracy – 3 Laws for One-Party Rule
(By Ola Claësson) The government’s response to the Gezi protests in June 2013 and its obstruction of a graft probe targeting ministers in December the same year has tarnished the perception of Turkey as an improving democracy. But the foreign media tend to ignore to report the combined seriousness of the developments currently taking place […]
A World built on Slavery
(By Greg Grandin) Many in the United States were outraged by the remarks of conservative evangelical preacher Pat Robertson, who blamed Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake on Haitians for selling their souls to Satan. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble — as many as 300,000 died — when Robertson went on TV and gave […]
Israel’s Curb on Freedom of Speech in Anti-Boycott Law Challenged in Court
(By Bill Van Esveld) On [last] Sunday, nine Israeli Supreme Court justices heard a petition to revoke the country’s “anti-boycott law” – a law that penalizes people or groups that advocate boycotting Israeli products, institutions or individuals – because it restricts the right to freedom of expression. The anti-boycott law’s critics are as diverse as […]
Wind Turbines don’t decline in Efficiency for 25 Years, contrary to Myth
(By James Ayre) Wind Farms Blow Away Old Criticism — Research Shows That Wind Turbines Remain Productive For Up To 25 Years (via Clean Technica) While wind energy has become an increasingly common development choice in recent years, there has been some criticism of the technology — of particular interest in that regard was a […]
Judge: All right for NYPD to spy on Muslim-Americans; not all right for Journalists to reveal it
(By Sarah Lazare) A federal judge ruled Thursday that the NYPD's secret spying on Muslims in schools, restaurants, and mosques with no evidence of wrongdoing is perfectly legal, and it was the media's exposure of this surveillance that was the real cause of harm. The decision prompted outcry from civil rights and racial justice advocates. […]
Falk: Edward Said was the Palestinians’ Nelson Mandela
(By Andrew Sondern) Princeton professor emeritus talks Palestinian nationalism in speech at university (via NJ.com) By Andrew Sondern Richard Falk, a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, is no stranger to controversy. On the same… ———– […]