Featured

(By Juan Cole) The Governor of Homs Province, Talal al-Barazi said Wednesday that 80 percent of the rebel fighters in that city have now been evacuated. It is expected that the rest will leave on Thursday. Around a thousand fighters had been holed up in the old city of Homs and have now left, with […]

Africa

Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army: Hunted Children & the Problem of Fundamentalism in Africa

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The horrific story of the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from their school in Borno Province, northeastern Nigeria, by the Boko Haram terrorist group has again underlined the problem of violent fundamentalism in Africa. Reports say more kidnappings have been undertaken today. Boko Haram, which was founded in 2002, has many resemblances […]

Apartheid

Netanyahu’s Blood and Soil: The Racist-Nationalism of his “Jewish State” Ideal

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Binyamin Netanyahu is again beating the “Israel is a Jewish state” drum, and now wants to have it legislated into Israeli organic law. On Sunday, Netanyahu said, “There are those who do not want Israel to be defined as the national homeland for the Jewish people…” “They want a Palestinian national homeland […]

Featured

Jose Antonio Vargas’ “Documented” on Plight of Undocumented to air on CNN after Theatrical Release

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) I was privileged to see a special screening of Jose Antonio Vargas’s breathlessly awaited documentary, “Documented,” when I was in Los Angeles last week, and honored to meet Vargas himself along with executive producer Janet Wang (“The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs Larry Flynt”). The film was shown in a class […]

Bush

Condoleezza Rice, Charged with War Crimes at Rutgers, withdraws as Commencement Speaker

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Condoleezza Rice on Saturday pulled out of giving the commencement address at Rutgers University after professor and student protests. Rutgers historian Professor Rudy Bell argued that while it would be appropriate to have Rice on campus as part of an academic debate, she is unsuitable as a commencement speaker because of her […]

Featured

In Deep South where GOP Rejected Obamacare, tens of 1000s die Unnecessarily every Year

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Center for Disease Control house found that 900,000 people a year die of five leading causes every year in the US, and that 20% to 40% of these deaths are preventable (i.e. 180,000 to 360,000 needn’t die). The five are heart disease, cancer, lung disease, stroke and unintentional injury. Smoking cigarettes […]

Climate Change

43% of Denmark’s Power from Renewables: Aiming for 70% by 2020

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Denmark is now getting 43% of its power from renewable energy (mainly wind and biomass). It is thus on track to meet its ambitious goal of 70% renewables by 2020. DeutscheWelle explains how Denmark is getting community buy-in for the onshore turbines. Residents get lower electricity prices when there are turbines in […]

Bush

Top 10 Attacks on US Embassies in Republican Administrations that Lindsey Graham doesn’t Care about

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Republicans in Congress keep beating the dead horse of Benghazi. Now they have sprung a briefing memo for Susan Rice, based on CIA talking points. I shows that the briefing hewed to the CIA line of the time, which was that the Benghazi disturbances were copy cats of those in Cairo, […]

Featured

Iraq’s first Post-American Elections by the Numbers

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Iraqis went to the polls on Wednesday in the first national parliamentary elections since US troops pulled out of the country completely (in late 2011). The results won’t be in for a while, but here are some early statistics: 1. Preliminary estimate of turnout: 60% 2. Number of people who died in […]