Human Rights

(By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi) When it comes to news reports on Christians in Syria, the general focus is on the concerns Christian civilians have about their future, if any, in the country. Though such anxieties are not invalid, reports rarely break new ground. Here I intend to explore how Christians play a role on the […]

Human Rights

Angelina Jolie launches Syria Refugee Appeal; UNICEF: 2,000 Syrian Children in Lebanon at Risk of Death

Juan Cole

(UNICEF writes): UNICEF report: Silent threat emerging among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon BEIRUT, 25 February 2014 – A UNICEF-led joint nutrition assessment on the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was launched today, revealing malnutrition as a silent, emerging threat. UNICEF, in partnership with Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the UN Refugee Agency […]

censorship

The Decline and Fall of the Turkish Model

contributors

(By Erdağ Göknar for IslamiCommentary) Erdağ Göknar Most observers agree that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has mishandled the current political crisis. The AKP, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, once aspired to civil society and pluralism, but has recently embraced a strain of single-party authoritarianism. The government has sought increased control […]

Crime

4 Darknesses: Internet being Manipulated, Deceived by Western Intel Trolls

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Researchers on online behavior have shown that internet trolls (people who use insincere techniques to disrupt conversations) really are psychopaths, marked by narcisssism, sadism, Machiavellianism. Professors Eric Buckels, Paul Trapnell, and Delroy Paulhus administered surveys to students and found that about 6 percent of them enjoyed messing with other people’s heads on […]

Africa

A World built on Slavery

contributors

(By Greg Grandin) Many in the United States were outraged by the remarks of conservative evangelical preacher Pat Robertson, who blamed Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake on Haitians for selling their souls to Satan. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble — as many as 300,000 died — when Robertson went on TV and gave […]

Eastern Europe

Not to Reason Why: A New Crimean “War”?

Juan Cole

(Juan Cole) The Russian-speaking population of the Crimean Peninsula in the Ukraine is upset by the popular movement in the west of the country that has overthrown president Viktor Yanukovych and is said to be forming militias. On some government buildings, Ukrainian flags have been replaced by Russian ones. Sevastopol is an important Black Sea […]

Domestic Surveillance

Not only Big Brother but Big Corporation is Tracking you Online Too

Juan Cole

(Via Techdirt) What Happens When You Marry The NSA’s Surveillance Database With Amazon’s Personalized Marketing? (via Techdirt) By now, most people who shop online are aware of the way in which companies try to tailor their offers based on your previous purchasing and browsing history. Being followed by strangely relevant ads everywhere is bad enough, […]

Dissent

Israel’s Curb on Freedom of Speech in Anti-Boycott Law Challenged in Court

contributors

(By Bill Van Esveld) On [last] Sunday, nine Israeli Supreme Court justices heard a petition to revoke the country’s “anti-boycott law” – a law that penalizes people or groups that advocate boycotting Israeli products, institutions or individuals – because it restricts the right to freedom of expression. The anti-boycott law’s critics are as diverse as […]

censorship

The Deep State is Vulnerable to People Power

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) My remarks below were published at Bill Moyers’ site this weekend. They came in response to Mike Lofgren’s important essay, “Anatomy of the Deep State” . Lofgren is a former congressional staffer. Mike Lofgren’s long experience on the Hill has given him a small window, he might say only an aperture, into […]