Human Rights

(By Juan Cole) Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal last week defended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson and slammed pop diva Miley Cyrus. He said, “The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. […]

Arab Spring

Egypt Military Junta Sentences 2011 Revolutionaries to 3 Years Hard Labor

Juan Cole

Egypt court jails anti-Mubarak activists for 3 years (via AFP) An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources said. It was the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters… Informed Comment discussed the military coup […]

Domestic Surveillance

NSA bribed Encryption Companies to Install Back Doors: Was the Law Broken? Did Obama Know?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Reuters gets the scoop: the National Security Agency gave internet security firm RSA some $10 million to use an NSA encryption formula in its BSafe software. RSA is now a subsidiary of the EMC corporation, and they have urged customers not to use BSafe since the revelations by Edward Snowden made clear […]

Human Rights

UN: A Million Palestinians will Need Food aid in Israel-blockaded Gaza Next Year

Juan Cole

PressTv reports, “The UN says nearly a million Palestinians are expected to need food aid in the Gaza Strip next year” Their blurb: “About 800-thousand Palestinian refugees are currently receiving food aid from the U-N Relief and Works Agency– UNRWA– but the organization expects a 10 to 20 percent rise in demand in 2014. The […]

Dissent

Is Edward Snowden a modern Martin Luther?

contributors

(By J.M. Porup) Quiz time, people. Identify the following: A powerful church that has betrayed its founding principles. A secretive priesthood that knows all your sins. An empire that anoints princes. But one priest’s complaint provokes a backlash, and the empire crumbles. Who am I? If you guessed Martin Luther, you guessed wrong. Try Edward […]

Human Rights

Saudi Internet Activists face Crackdown

contributors

(By Human Rights Watch) (Beirut) – Activists in Saudi Arabia face a repressive and intolerant government as they advocate popular political participation, judicial reform, and an end to discrimination against women and minorities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Authorities have responded by arresting, prosecuting, and attempting to silence rights defenders and […]

Domestic Surveillance

“60 Minutes” does Infomercial for NSA with Security Official posing as Journalist

contributors

(By Techdirt) CBS Airs NSA Propaganda Informercial Masquerading As ‘Hard Hitting’ 60 Minutes Journalism By Reporter With Massive Conflict Of Interest (via Techdirt) Last night I started seeing a bunch of folks on Twitter absolutely trashing 60 Minutes. We had mentioned last week that 60 Minutes would be doing something about the NSA, including the […]

Human Rights

842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon (pop.: 4.4 mn) as UN Calls for $6 bn Aid

contributors

(By Agence France Presse) One in five Lebanon residents Syria refugees: UN (via AFP) One of five people living in Lebanon are refugees who have fled the conflict in neighbouring Syria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Monday. The UNHCR says there are more than 842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon but the actual […]

Human Rights

American Studies Association to Boycott Israeli Institutions in Historic Vote

contributors

(By Sarah Lazare) An association of 5,000 academics on Monday became the largest U.S. scholarly organization ever to join the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The American Studies Association, which calls itself "the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history," announced Monday that its membership passed a […]