(From Gertrude Bell, Syria: The Desert and the Sown, 1908) Hama is a small, mainly Sunni Arab city in the center-west of Syria famed for its water wheels. For Syrian Sufi orders see this link
Obama will Veto new Iran Sanctions, Israel War Mandate pushed by AIPAC Senators
(By Juan Cole) In his end-of-the-year press conference, President Obama had to defend his Iran negotiations in the face of a revolt within his own party. Thirteen Democratic senators and thirteen Republican senators banded together to try to derail President Obama’s negotiations with Iran by slapping new sanctions on that country in the middle of […]
UN: A Million Palestinians will Need Food aid in Israel-blockaded Gaza Next Year
PressTv reports, “The UN says nearly a million Palestinians are expected to need food aid in the Gaza Strip next year” Their blurb: “About 800-thousand Palestinian refugees are currently receiving food aid from the U-N Relief and Works Agency– UNRWA– but the organization expects a 10 to 20 percent rise in demand in 2014. The […]
Four Syrian Bedouin Women, c. 1890 (Photo of the Day)
Photo of the Day: Four Syrian Bedouin women in the late 19th century. Mirrored from Al-Mashriq Syria in 1900 had a population of a little less than 3 million (not counting what is today Lebanon). My guess is that some 10-20% of the population was at that time pastoral nomads or transhumants, i.e. livestock raisers […]
Scotland is going 100% Green by 2020; shame on Dirty America
(By Juan Cole) Glasgow is the city of the future, not Phoenix. Scotland has a population of about 5.3 million, a little more than the US state of Arizona. But the resemblance stops there. Arizona’s state government is backward-looking, roiled by racial politics, contemptuous of higher education, and a climate laggard, dirtying up the atmosphere […]
Congress cuts Food Stamps, maintains Estate Tax Loophole worth $100 bn to the Rich
(By Juan Cole) You know how the Tea Party House of Representatives obsessed with cutting food stamps to working families and veterans and children this fall? They were trying to save $4 bn. At the same time, they have kept in place a piece of fatally flawed legislation regarding estate taxes that has cost the […]
Real Time Earth Wind Map
Real Time Earth Wind Map from Earth Nullschool.net h/t Treehugger
Taiwanese Animators Explain to Obama the Unconstitutionality of NSA Spying (Video)
“NSA data mining program probably unconstitutional, judge says” (Taiwanese Animators)
How to get an Iran Nuclear deal: Top 7 Confidence-Building Steps
(By Bijan Khajehpour, Reza Marashi and Trita Parsi) [Excerpts from a new report from the National Iranian American Council:] Upon assuming the presidency in January 2009, Barack Obama told the world that if Iran were willing to unclench its fist, it would find an extended hand of friendship from the United States. Nearly five years […]
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