racism

by Rebecca Gordon Like many people around the world, four-star Marine General John Kelley is really worried about Ebola. But he’s not worried about the more than 4,000 people who have died of the disease in western Africa. And he’s only tangentially worried about people dying in this country. What is the real threat Ebola […]

Featured

Ben Affleck on Bill Maher’s Muslim Problem

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Bravo to Ben Affleck and Nicholas Kristoff for telling Bill Maher off about his chronic case of Muslim-hating bigotry. (He would say he doesn’t hate Muslims, only their religion, but then those who hate gays say much the same sort of thing). Maher and Sam Harris like to demonize Islam and by […]

Colonialism

Lessons from French Morocco: “Fanaticism Anxiety” about Muslims has been with us since the Colonial Era

Juan Cole

By Edmund Burke III Today we hear a great deal about the question of what went wrong in Middle Eastern societies. For an historian of the early twentieth century world, it’s déjà vu all over again. Similar questions and similar anxieties were being voiced a century ago. Very much like fin de siècle Europeans, we […]

Christians

Tony Blair obsessed with Religious “Crusade” against Iraq, like Bush: Former British Dep’ty PM

contributors

Channel 4 News: “Former deputy prime minister John Prescott calls his ex boss Tony Blair a ‘crusader’ because of Blair’s recent calls to send troops back into the Iraq.” ‘Tony Blair is a crusader’ says John Prescott | Channel 4 News

Democracy

New Iraqi Government: Less than Meets the Eye?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The Iraqi parliament finally voted in the government of new Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi on Monday, in what US Secretary of State John Kerry called a “turning point.” There are reasons, however, to be cautious about pinning too many hopes on the new government. Although al-Abadi is a more congenial and less […]

Economy

Do Latinos in US have to Change their Names to Get a Job?

contributors

The Young Turks “”Zamora’s story was the same as those of so many Americans nowadays who are struggling to find a job. Zamora stated that he probably sent out between 50 and 100 résumés a day and received little to no reply. So he decided to take matters into his own hands: He changed his […]

African-Americans

Sean Hannity Pwned by Patricia Bynes when he tries to “Educate” Her

contributors

The Young Turks: “A Ferguson, Mo. official was having none of Fox News host Sean Hannity’s attempt to “educate” her on police brutality Wednesday night. Hannity kicked off an interview with Democratic committeewoman Patricia Bynes by pointing out that she was not present when black teenager Michael Brown, who was unarmed, was shot by a […]

African-Americans

It’s not Fergustan: Ferguson is what America Looks Like

contributors

AJ+ People around the world have watched Ferguson, Missouri in disbelief that what they’re seeing is taking place in the United States. But Ferguson is actually quite American. AJ+ host Dena Takruri explains how the city is a microcosm of the systemic racial inequality that persists in the U.S, from poverty and unemployment to the […]

Democracy

Why Militarized Policing is the worst Response to Ferguson’s Problems

contributors

By Chris Cocking, University of Brighton The town of Ferguson, Missouri has now seen ten days of almost nightly disorder following the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by the police. The decision to bring in the National Guard has not quelled the disorder and in fact may be aggravating the situation. Society often has […]