Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes during the nine months of peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli settlement watchdog said Tuesday as the negotiation period formally ended. Figures quoted by Peace Now showed that during…
If you are younger than 29, you’ve never experienced a cooler than average Month: March Was 4th Warmest on Record Globally
By Andrea Thompson Follow @AndreaTWeather March 2014 was the fourth-warmest March on record globally, according to recently released NASA data, making it the 349th month — more than 29 years — in which global temperatures were above the historic…
The Sterling Racism Scandal: What about Associating with Muslim People?
(By Juan Cole) LA Clippers owner Donald Tokowitz Sterling is alleged to have told Maria Vanessa Perez (“V. Stiviano”) off for putting up an Instagram photo of herself with Magic Johnson: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people.” He denies the charge. But Sterling has a […]
New FCC Rules Will Put “Stake in Internet’s Heart”
(By Jon Queally) Defenders of an open, innovative and fair internet are up in arms Thursday after learning the Federal Communications Commission is about to issue new rule proposals that will kill the online principle known as "net neutrality." The death of net neutrality—which has governed the equal treatment of content since the internet was […]
The Impunity of American Torture: From Abu Ghraib to Sen. Feinstein’s Brawl with the CIA
(by Karen J. Greenberg via Tomdispatch.com) It’s mind-boggling. Torture is still up for grabs in America. No one questions anymore whether the CIA waterboarded one individual 83 times or another 186 times. The basic facts are no longer in dispute either by those who champion torture or those who, like myself, despise the very idea […]
John Kerry admits Israeli Apartheid; and 5 Ways he is Understating It
(By Juan Cole) In a closed-room meeting of the Trilateral Commission last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel is on the verge of becoming an Apartheid state, according to a recording obtained by The Daily Beast. The remark will raise a firestorm of criticism from Palestine-deniers, who are if anything more blindered […]
A Widening War: Iraq intervenes in Syria with Helicopter Gunships
(By Juan Cole) For the first time, Iraqi helicopter gunships have crossed the border to hit a target inside Syria. They destroyed 8 fuel tankers transporting gasoline to forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has begun holding territory both in northern Syria and in al-Anbar Province in Iraq. […]
Turkey’s PM Erdogan between Sultanate and Hobbesian Commonwealth
(By Kerem Oktem) . . . [Thomas Hobbbes’] Leviathan is about more than the rights of the sovereign. For it to be considered a commonwealth, it requires a covenant between the sovereign and the ruled, with the latter voluntarily giving up their right to govern themselves in exchange for legitimate rule. [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] […]
Can America’s descent into Plutocracy (Rule-by-the-Rich) be Reversed?
Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig, the crusader for campaign finance reform, feels that his fellow reformers don’t think big or boldly enough to inspire the kind of grassroots campaign that might break elite donors’ stranglehold on America’s political…