My column in Truthdig is out, on the invisible Kandahar campaign in the invisible Afghanistan War– and the Karzai/ Petraeus soap opera. Read the whole thing.
Why Obama gave in on Israeli Settlements in Jerusalem: Eric Cantor, Ros-Lehtinen Channel Israeli Right on Usurpation of Holy City, Displacement of Palestinians
Why in the world would the Obama administration put forward a proposal to the Israelis that allows them to continue to build illegal new squatter settlements in what the Israelis call the district of Jerusalem on Palestinian land while asking them to refrain from starting new settlements on the West Bank? The Palestinians complain that […]
Species Loss Threatens Humankind
The attempts by the world’s governments 2002-2010 to stem massive loss of species completely failed. So the recent conference on species loss at Nagoya in Japan found. Failed. It doesn’t make a person optimistic about the recently concluded Nagoya agreement. Though, bless the Japanese for pledging $2 billion to fight species loss. A fifth of […]
Shimkus Pwned on 2 Percent Climate Claims
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) says that only 2 percent of the atmosphere is made up of greenhouse gases, and that only 2 percent of those gases are man made. He somehow seems to think that small proportions in such matters are unimportant. But of course, we now know that Shimkus’s real problem is not that […]
Sunni Arabs Return to Parliament but Shiite-Kurdish Ascendancy Holds: Ahmadinejad Congratulates his Candidate, al-Maliki
Al-Hayat writing in Arabic reports on Saturday’s successful parliamentary session in Baghdad, which was joined by the Iraqiya Party, for which most Sunni Arabs had voted. The parliament had elected Jalal Talabani of the Kurdistan Alliance as president and has put in Usama al-Nujayfi of Iraqiya as speaker of parliament. Apparently Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi […]
Ron Paul: We’ve Already Declared War on Iran
From last summer after the passage of the Comprehensive Iran sanctions or CISADA: Rep. Ron Paul argues that this measure is more or less a declaration of war on Iran, and that therefore we are effectively on a war footing with Tehran already. He also suggests that we do not need more than 700 bases […]
Some Attackers Escaped After Karachi Blast: Dawn
Dawn is breaking the news that some of the attackers behind the massive explosion on Thursday night at a Sindh Crime Investigation Department building in Karachi, which killed 18 and wounded 100, may have been able to escape. The southern Pakistani port city of Karachi (pop. 14 million) is a cauldron of ethnic and religious […]
Robot Actress in Tokyo Steals Show (Reuters): Video of the Day
Reuters reports on a Japanese stage play, Sayonara in which a robot caretaker of an ill woman is actually played by a robot (or more accurately by an android, since the machine is made to look human). Another, print, report is here. The android is named Gemini-F. The director, Oriza Hirata, says that the android […]
Cole in Tomdispatch: Asia Rising, American Hessians
My column is out in Tomdispatch on the troubling ways that President Obama’s Asian trip suggest America’s weakening position in the world, especially with regard to a rising Asia– given our debilitating wars and our hollowed out economy. Read the whole thing.