Iran has withdrawn its ambassador to neighboring Azerbaijan, in part over Baku’s hosting of the Eurovision pop singing contest, which the ayatollahs consider to be too sexy for their turbans. Eurovision goes back to 1956 and so much predates the “Idol” competitions, but in the US it is the latter that is better known. It […]
Israel, Electric Cars, and Existential Threats
Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has launched an Israeli electric car, and also arranged for four recharging stations. Israel is a perfect place for this experiment, since it is a relatively small and compact country, so the present lack of range of most electric cars (70-150 miles) may not be an issue for a lot of […]
Israeli Squatters fire with Impunity at Palestinian civilians as Israeli Army watches
The slow civil war in the Palestinian West Bank, occupied illegally by Israel, between the hundreds of thousands of Israeli squatters planted there by the Israeli government and the local people who are being displaced, is a daily affair. Armed Israeli squatters encroach on Palestinian water and land daily. In recent days, remarkably, video has […]
Egypt between the Left, Muslim Fundamentalism, and the Old Regime
The campaigns of the candidates for president of Egypt drew to a close at midnight on Sunday, in preparation for voting on Wednesday and Thursday. On Sunday, al-Shuruq published an opinion poll on the election. In the poll, a third of Egyptians said their number one concern was security (i.e. law and order). 14.3 percent […]
The Great Fracking Catastrophe in Rural America (Cantarow)
Ellen Cantarow writes at Tomdispatch.com If the world can be seen in a grain of sand, watch out. As Wisconsinites are learning, there’s money (and misery) in sand — and if you’ve got the right kind, an oil company may soon be at your doorstep. March in Wisconsin used to mean snow on the ground, […]
Congress Wants the Department of Defense to Propagandize Americans
Two congressmen are attempting to insert a provision in the National Defense Authorization act that would allow the Department of Defense to subject the US domestic public to propaganda. The bipartisan amendment was introduced by Rep. Mac Thornberry from Texas and Rep. Adam Smith from Washington State. Nothing speaks more urgently to the creeping fascism […]
“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market…” (JFK Poster)
Aleppo Joins the Syrian Revolution: Are al-Assad’s Days Numbered?
The largest demonstrations held in Syria’s second city, Aleppo, since the beginning over a year ago of the revolutionary movement in that country, were held on Friday. In part, they were provoked by the brutality of regime troops toward student protesters at the university in Aleppo on Thursday. The Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad […]
Frantic Civilian Tweets Map Out US Drone Strikes in Yemen (Woods and Serle)
Chris Woods and Jack Serle write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Though the hour was late, Yemen’s social media was still very much awake. A US drone’s missiles had just slammed into a convoy of vehicles in a remote part of Yemen, killing three alleged militants. The attack – like all other US drone […]