Pope Benedict XVI’s suprise announcement on Monday that he plans to resign at the end of this month marks a potential generational change in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. His successor has an opportunity to revive the breakthroughs of the Second Vatican Council in promoting inter-religious dialogue, and repairing the Church’s troubled relationship […]
Ahmadinejad: US must Cease Militarily Targetting Iran before Direct Negotiations
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replied on the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution to recent US overtures from Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, suggesting direct talks between the US and Iran over its nuclear enrichment program. Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying, “The change of tone is necessary but not sufficient […]
Bad Precedent: Obama’s Drone Doctrine is Nixon’s Cambodia Doctrine (Dietrich)
Christopher R. W. Dietrich writes in a guest column for Informed Comment The cynical manipulation of legal and historical precedent regarding unmanned targeted killings vehicles damages the credibility of the Obama administration. The recently-leaked argument by the Justice Department is as weak and counterproductive in the light of contemporary international history as it is in […]
Chuck Hagel Confirmation Hearings Satire (Saturday Night Live)
Saturday Night Live’s parody of the Senate confirmation hearings for Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. (Sorry, for US-based viewers only.)
Will Obama Stand up to the Keystone XL Pipeline & Climate-Destroying Tar Sands? (Klare)
Michael T. Klare writes at Tomdispatch.com: Presidential decisions often turn out to be far less significant than imagined, but every now and then what a president decides actually determines how the world turns. Such is the case with the Keystone XL pipeline, which, if built, is slated to bring some of the “dirtiest,” carbon-rich oil […]
On How the visit of Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Egypt was a Dud
The first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against Hosni Mubarak, was expected to be a big deal. It wasn’t. Oh, it marked a change. The Mubarak regime despised the Khomeinist government of Iran. Egypt’s staff generals helped Iraq […]
On How Americans are being Gouged and Made more Unequal by the Internet Monopolies (Moyers Video Interview)
Bill Moyers interviews Susan Crawford on the virtual monopoly on internet provision held in the US by a few companies, who overcharge those who can afford their rates, exclude the poor, and give us slow, crappy service compared to more advanced and enlightened countries where being slaves of the corporations is frowned upon. The blurb […]
Why Tunisia’s Arab Spring is in Turmoil
On Friday, tens of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets to protest the shocking assassination of leftist, secular politician Chokri Belaid earlier this week. He had been the leader of a small opposition party and had been an outspoken critic both of the ruling al-Nahda Party and of the neighborhood militias that sprung up […]
American Torture: The 50-Nation Hall of Shame (Jamiol Cartoon)
courtesy Jamiol’s World by Paul Jamiol.
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