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Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Is the Government reading your Email without a Warrant?

Is the Government reading your Email without a Warrant?

Juan Cole

Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) has demanded that the FBI and other Federal agencies obtain a warrant to read private emails. He said that Americans’ “right to be free from ‘unreasonable searches and seizures’ applies regardless of whether it involves a letter stored in a desk or an email stored online.” He was responding to a […]

Uncategorized
Minorities and the Arab Revolutions (Cole Video)

Minorities and the Arab Revolutions (Cole Video)

Juan Cole

Here is an excerpt from my recent talk on minorities and the Arab Revolutions at Portland State: Here is the video

Syria
Has the Obama administration Given into Russia on Syria?

Has the Obama administration Given into Russia on Syria?

Juan Cole

The joint communique issued by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week regarding Syria has in retrospect raised eyebrows in the world press because it seems to adopt Russian, not American, rhetoric on the issue. The document called for an international conference on the crisis jointly sponsored by […]

Uncategorized
Obama’s War on Whistleblowers who are  trying to out Government Waste, Fraud (Van Buren)

Obama’s War on Whistleblowers who are trying to out Government Waste, Fraud (Van Buren)

Juan Cole

Peter van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com: What do words mean in a post-9/11 world? Apart from the now clichéd Orwellian twists that turn brutal torture into mere enhanced interrogation, the devil is in the details. Robert MacLean is a former air marshal fired for an act of whistleblowing.  He has continued to fight over seven […]

Israel/ Palestine
Hawking joins Academic Boycott of Israel

Hawking joins Academic Boycott of Israel

Juan Cole

Physicist Stephen Hawking’s decision to boycott the annual President’s Conference in Jerusalem this year has been confirmed by Cambridge University. The university initially attempted to deny a political motive and said Hawkings was not going because of his health. It acknowledged the political motive when the Guardian newspaper provided it with a copy of Hawking’s […]

Israel/ Palestine
Russia Warns Israel:  Hands off Syria, as PFLP threatens Guerrilla Strike

Russia Warns Israel: Hands off Syria, as PFLP threatens Guerrilla Strike

Juan Cole

The Iranian press is reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has vehemently warned Israel against further airstrikes on Syria. Putin is said to be accelerating shipments of anti-aircraft batteries to Syria. Meanwhile Syrian leader Bashar al-Asad’s decision to permit guerrilla attacks on Israel from Syrian soil was welcomed by the Popular Front for the Liberation […]

Iraq
Another view of Baghdad: Timelapse Video

Another view of Baghdad: Timelapse Video

Juan Cole

Baghdad timelapse

Turkey
ReOrienting the Veil (Gökariksel)

ReOrienting the Veil (Gökariksel)

Juan Cole

Banu Gökariksel writes for for ISLAMiCommentary Fatih neighborhood of Istanbul, 2009. photo by Banu Gökarıksel Banu Gökarıksel The veil is a piece of fabric that is politicized like no other. It is the persistent topic of fiery political debates and possibly the most stigmatized, praised, banned, and enforced article of clothing. And it continues to […]

Uncategorized
A Million Newborns die the Day they are Born, every Year: Save the Children

A Million Newborns die the Day they are Born, every Year: Save the Children

Juan Cole

Save the Children reports that a million newborns every year die the same day they are born. Most of these babies die of infections and could be treated with inexpensive antibiotics. Video report:

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