Michael T. Klare writes at Tomdispatch.com: A week after the most powerful “super typhoon” ever recorded pummeled the Philippines, killing thousands in a single province, and three weeks after the northern Chinese city of Harbin suffered a devastating “airpocalypse,” suffocating the city with coal-plant pollution, government leaders beware! Although individual events like these cannot be […]
State of Emergency in Libyan Capital as More Militia Clashes Break Out
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan declared a 48-hour state of emergency in the capital of Tripoli on Saturday as fresh fighting broke out at Tajoura to the east of the capital. On Friday, unarmed civilian protesters had been attacked with heavy military weapons by Misrata militiamen, leaving 43 dead and some 500 wounded. At Tajoura, […]
US tries to Censor British Report on Secret Bush-Blair Push for Iraq War (Lazare)
Sarah Lazare writes at Commondreams.org If the U.S. gets its way, the world will never know the details of top-level discussions between George W. Bush and Tony Blair that paved the way for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. An exclusive report released Thursday by The Independent reveals that the White House and U.S. State […]
Guinness World Record Day shows Human Spirit Indomitable and Silly
Thursday was devoted to breaking Guinness world records on the part of people who walked over 60 upright bottles, did 41 handsprings in a row, and coordinated masses of hula hoop dancing. Further proof that the human spirit is both indomitable and irredeemably silly. Persian Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi said that humans are donkeys […]
43 Dead, 500 Wounded in Tripoli attack by militia on peaceful Protesters
Update: There was further fighting at Tajoura just east of Tripoli on Friday night into Saturday, with the death toll rising to 41 with 500 injured. The fighting seems to be in part over local people in Tripoli not wanting continued HQs in the capital of the various regional or city-based militias from outside the […]
Our Gasoline thirst fuels Mideast Fundamentalism, Violence – EVs are the Answer
The Greater Middle East has much of the proven oil and natural gas reserves in the world, and it is those hydrocarbon resources that give the region its central position in US policy. But the dependence by the US and its allies on petroleum is promoting a disturbing religious fanaticism and authoritarianism in the Muslim […]
Take that, France: Iran has Halted Expansion of Nuclear Facilities: IAEA
Iran has actually done some of the things that French Foriegn Minister Laurent Fabius was demanding when he derailed the agreement on confidence-building at the Geneva conference last weekend, according to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA head Yukiya Amano was in Tehran on Monday for discussions, which from all accounts went well. […]
American Writers are Self-Censoring to Avoid NSA Scrutiny (McCauley)
Lauren McCauley writes at Commondreams.org: Recent disclosures of the NSA's widespread dragnet program coupled with its frequent targeting of journalists are having a 'chilling effect' on American writers, stifling their freedom of expression at great detriment to society, says a new report Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self Censor. Published Tuesday by […]
Muslim-American Artists Perform to Challenge Stereotypes
VOA reports:: ” Going back decades, Arab actors have been successful in Hollywood. Among the most successful, such as Omar Sharif, Tony Shalhoub, and F. Murray Abraham; the latter won an Academy Award for his role in the movie Mozart. But Muslims, openly proclaiming their religion, are an even smaller minority in the U.S. entertainment […]