Atrocity: What a mass murder is called when the world is too blind or timid or divided to prosecute it as a war crime. Synonym (mainly Syr.): Treimseh. CEO sabbatical: The practice of chief executive officers of a company to absent themselves for several years from actually making decisions, even while they are the only […]
John Adams on the War on Terror (Poster)
Omar Khayyam (152) “so many hearts have been left bleeding”
A shame that bankruptcy has left us without capital in hand, and that so many hearts have been left bleeding by the blade of fate. No one has come back from that world with word of vanished travelers. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 152/ Arberry 1949
Dream Ticket (Poster)
Syria: You know you’re in Trouble When…
Some observations for the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad: You know you’re in trouble when you can only rule over people if you massacre them: Opposition sources said that a major massacre was committed on Thursday by Syrian government forces, which bombarded the Sunni town of Taramseh near Hama with artillery and helicopter gunships. The […]
Obamas Scramble for Africa (Turse)
Nick Turse writes at Tomdispatch.com Obama’s Scramble for Africa Secret Wars, Secret Bases, and the Pentagon’s “New Spice Route” in Africa By Nick Turse They call it the New Spice Route, an homage to the medieval trade network that connected Europe, Africa, and Asia, even if today’s “spice road” has nothing to do with cinnamon, […]
Omar Khayyam (412) “Don’t waste a minute of your life”
Don’t give your body over to lamenting cruel destiny; Don’t dedicate your soul to grief at recollections of the dead. Don’t throw away your heart save on the locks of your beloved’s hair. Keep a full wine glass in your hand– don’t waste a minute of your life. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s […]
Romney: Kayak & Shark (Political Cartoon)
Top Five Reasons Israel is Losing the Public Relations Battle
Right wing Israeli officials are concerned about attempts to ‘delegitimize” Israel, and fund former officials and intellectuals to attempt to combat this perceived trend. But it seems obvious that Israel is gradually sinking in the perception of the outside world, and there are concrete reasons for this change. Most of them derive from the train […]
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