Last December at a protest against Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi in Egypt, it is alleged that an unveiled Christian woman was standing with other demonstrators when a hard-line Salafi fundamentalist came up to her and said “Cover your face you harlot!” She immediately reached down, took off her shoe, and slapped him across the face […]
Holding Obama’s Feet to the Fire: Protest against Climate Change Draws Thousands to Washington
The ‘Forward on Climate’ protest drew some 40,000 demonstrators to Washington, DC, on Sunday. Although the press tended to cast it as mainly a rally against the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would allow export of Canadian oil produced from tar sands via the Gulf of Mexico, the rally was against policies that accelerate climate […]
Iran Leader: Having Nukes is ‘Crime Against Humanity’ – US Sanctions Actually Target Fuel Enrichment
The USG Open Source Center translated the entirety of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s speech in Tehran to Tabrizis on Saturday. In it, Khamenei for the nth time called nuclear weapons a ‘crime against humanity’ and affirmed that Iran does not want them. Although this speech was covered by US media such as the New […]
Libya Marchin’ On, 2 years Later
Marchin’ On in honor of the second anniversary of the beinning of the Libyan uprising:
Formerly Liberal Kuwait has started Jailing Dissident Bloggers (Kinninmont)
Jane Kinninmont writes for ISLAMiCommentary Kuwait has traditionally had the greatest freedom of speech of all the Gulf monarchies, as well as having the most powerful parliament. Yet, like all its Gulf neighbours, it has started to crack down on criticism of the ruler since the onset of the Arab spring. At least […]
Israel Spy Scandal and Press Censorship
Russia Today reports on the scandal surrounding the mysterious death in prison of Ben Zygier, an Australian who had been recruited into Israeli intelligence, Mossad. Rumors swirl that he had had a crisis of conscience about the assassination in Dubai of suspected Hamas operative Mahmoud Mabhouh, in which Mossad field officers used passports of living […]
Big Money is buying our Politics, and how to Fight Back (Bill Moyers video)
Bill Moyers explores the subversion of American democracy by big money, and what could be done by it. A third of campaign donations in the past election were ‘dark money,’ i.e. from anonymous rich people. Some 150 persons had an outsized impact with their $9 million each. The blurb for the show: “Full Show: The […]
The Crisis of Urdu (Farouqui)
Open letter from Ather Farouqui in New Delhi on the Crisis of Urdu Dear Friends, I am writing this note as the General Secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) to all allies who can help rescue Urdu from the grave quagmire it is currently confined in, branded as a ‘Muslim language’, ‘language of terrorists’, […]
Video of Russia Meteor Strike (but what if it had been bigger?)
Russia Today compiles amateur videos of the meteorite that struck Chelyabinsk, Russia, (900 miles east of Moscow) wounding hundreds, mainly because of flying glass. Here is what happens if a really big meteor hits: I think we need our space program back.