A federal judge has ruled unconstitutional portions of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which provided for indefinite imprisonment for journalists and activists who reported on organizations deemed ‘terrorist’ by the US government. Judge Katherine Forrest ruled, “The statute at issue places the public at undue risk of having their speech chilled for the […]
Time Magazine Cover asks if Bibi Netanyahu will Make Peace… 1996
h/t @Amirmizroch
Facebook and the Middle East after the Arab Spring
The Facebook IPO may or may not be a good business investment, but the Facebook phenomenon hasn’t faded in one area of the world– the Middle East. The social networking site, along with Twitter, was deployed by the young revolutionaries in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria as an aid to toppling the sclerotic […]
Saudi ban on women’s sports blamed for rising obesity (Zambarakji)
Angie Zambarakji writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: A girl’s school in Saudi Arabia has defied a ban on sport for girls by letting pupils play basketball. This comes comes after Human Rights Watch has claimed that women’s limited access to sport was contributing to rising obesity in the country. Under the Kingdom’s strict […]
Minority Births the Majority? On how the whole idea of White People is Made Up
The news is going around breathlessly that 50.4% of births in the US in the past 12 months were to families categorized as ethnic minorities, presaging the time when ‘whites will be a minority’ in the US. The unselfconscious deployment of these categories just takes your breath away. Who gets to decide which ones are […]
Egypt’s Tantawi Pledges no first Strike Abroad, Fair Elections at Home
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi addressed Egyptian troops on Wednesday and attempted to raise their morale for praising them as the guarantors of Egypt’s security. Al-Masrawi reports: “Field Marshal Tantawi said, “We are heading in the right direction.” He deplored the allegations that sometimes issue from activist organizations “that we are in enmity with this state […]
Omar Khayyam (130) On Forgiveness and Falling off the Wagon
I singlehandedly keep this bar afloat. My heart has bled with repentance a couple thousand times. But if I don’t go on sinning, what would divine mercy do? He can’t bestow forgiveness unless I keep falling off the wagon. Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 130
Thomas Jefferson on Polytheism and Atheism (Poster)
Charges of Afghan Army Torture Prevent British Detainee Transfer (Stickler)
Angus Stickler writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: British troops have been banned from transferring suspected Taliban prisoners to the Afghan authorities because of claims of torture by local forces. The move, which follows a ruling by the British High Court, is a blow to Nato countries that want to formalise their detainee transfer […]
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