Iran is aiming big with renewables, based on recent statements made by the Iranian Energy Minister, Hamid Chitchian. As revealed by Chitchian, the country’s new goal is to add 5,000 MW of new solar energy and wind energy capacity by the year 2018.…
Donald Sterling’s Illiberal Zionism Part of Racism Controversy with Magic Johnson
(By Juan Cole) Major political ideas and philosophies are complex and ambiguous, not straightforward. American conservatism is an alliance of economic conservatives and cultural conservatives. Economic conservatives are champions of entrepreneurs and business, seeking low taxes and little regulation and opportunity for risk-takers from all persons of all backgrounds. Their ideology contains contradictions. Economic conservatives […]
NASA: West Antarctic ice sheet collapse now Inevitable, 10 ft Sea Rise Locked In
West Antarctic ice sheet collapse ‘unstoppable’, says NASA (via AFP) Ice is melting in the western Antarctic at an “unstoppable” pace, scientists said Monday, warning that the discovery holds major consequences for global sea level rise in the coming decades. The speedy melting means that prior calculations of sea level… ——- Reuters: “Antarctic ice […]
When Greenwald met Snowden: “Spark a … movement against the dangers of state surveillance”
(By Glenn Greenwald via Tomdispatch) [This essay is a shortened and adapted version of Chapter 1 of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Security State, and appears at TomDispatch.com with the kind permission of Metropolitan Books.] On December 1, 2012, I received my first communication from […]
Yemeni anti-Al-Qaeda Campaign gains Popular Support but US Embassy forced to Close
(By Robert Sharp) As Yemen enters the post-National Dialogue Conference period, theory and practice are colliding; the constitutional referendum will take place in June followed by hopefully credible presidential and parliamentary elections. The promise of a “new” Yemen will be debated formally through the ballot box and the people will decide the future leadership of […]
Operation American Spring aims to drive Obama from office this Friday
Operation American Spring promises to drive Obama from office this Friday (via Raw Story ) Self-styled revolutionary patriots plan to converge on Washington, D.C., this week to drive President Barack Obama and disloyal lawmakers out of office. “We are calling for the removal of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, John…
The Real Egyptian Divide is between Tahrir Self-Government and Authoritarians of all Stripes
(By Haifaa G. Khalafallah) Revolutions or coups seeking to change modern Egypt, whether in 1919 or 1952, never challenged the familiar patterns of power relations, that is to say, their political culture. The triumph of a home grown, new political discourse is the real and most significant Egyptian revolution that took place early in […]
Top 5 Signs that it is Rove who is Brain Dead, not Hillary
(By Juan Cole) Karl Rove was reported to have raised questions about Hillary Clinton’s mental well-being because of her fall in late 2012. He later walked back his allegation, but not too much. It is of course Rove who has careened about deeply harming the US because of some mysterious malady (more likely lack of […]
John Oliver: What if TV Climate Debates were 97 to 3 as in Real Science?
“John Oliver hosts a mathematically representative climate change debate, with the help of special guest Bill Nye the Science Guy, of course.” John Oliver LastWeekTonight: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): Climate Change Debate”