Russia denounces Obama Plan for Syria Air Strikes as Violation of Int’l Law
By Juan Cole Russia on Thursday pushed back against President Obama’s state plans for taking on…
By Juan Cole Russia on Thursday pushed back against President Obama’s state plans for taking on…
By Juan Cole President Obama’s speech launching his war on ISIL avoided the qualifications that he…
By Juan Cole Juliet Eilperin and David Nakamura at WaPo report on a Monday evening dinner…
RT America: “America leads all Western nations in the number of child homicide victims, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 2012, there were four adolescent homicides per 100,000 people in…
Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks “Atmospheric volumes of greenhouse hit a record in 2013 as carbon dioxide concentrations grew at the fastest rate since reliable global records began, the World Meteorological Organization…
By Nick Engelfried On August 28, 1963, 200,000 people swarmed into the nation’s capital for one of the most iconic moments in the civil rights movement: the March on Washington for Jobs…
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…
Bill Moyers: “The Massachusetts senator talks to Bill about taking on the entrenched political and Wall Street interests that have rigged the game against the rest of us.”
By A. David Lewis for for ISLAMiCommentary A. David Lewis Muslims don’t present a problem for superhero comics. They present a solution. A previous installment of “Comics & Dialogue” addressed an apparent…
By Juan Cole KRQE: “Official: Tesla picks Nevada for Gigafactory” Clean Technica points out that the battery-making factory is on track to reduce battery prices by 30% by 2017, making EVs indisputably…
By Michael T. Klare Considering all the talk about global warming, peak oil, carbon divestment, and renewable energy, you’d think that oil consumption in the United States would be on a downward…
Chris Hayes, “All In”: “The Duck Dynasty patriarch offers his advice on dealing with ISIS: convert or kill them” “Partial Transcript from Hannity: HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. New video surfaced earlier…
Via The Tree Actor Leonardo DiCaprio accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge this week and used the opportunity to not just raise awareness for ALS, but to also highlight the dangers of…
By Juan Cole There has been a lot of justifiable outrage about the invasion of privacy of celebrities and the posting of their private, nude photos at 4Chan by hackers who apparently…
TheLipTV: “Solar panels are being denied to certain states as utilities companies and politicians are looking out for their own interests in an effort to eliminate the competition. We look why homes…
By Shalom Goldman In our time, Judaism, in all of its magnificent complexity and subtlety, has been reduced to supporting “team Israel” — whatever its policies or methods. Yes, American Jews, according…
Colbert Report: “ISIS Panic” The Colbert ReportGet More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive ——-
By Juan Cole Calling the bottom of a river a “bed” is a metaphor. Imagine the river restlessly sleeping on its muddy mattress. But when we’ve so internalized a metaphor that we…
“In collaboration with Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the PBS NewsHour examines the vanishing coastline of Louisiana and the vulnerability of its native tribes to rising sea levels. This report is part of our…
AJ+ “An American, Douglas McAuthur McCain was killed fighting for the Islamic State group (formerly known as ISIS or ISIL) in Syria. He’s not the only American to have been killed fighting…
Natalie Zemon Davis , among our most distinguished living historians and past president of the American Historical Association, has written a heartfelt appeal to Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise at the University of…
CBS New York buries the lead: “A 9-year-old New Jersey girl accidentally killed an Arizona shooting instructor as he was showing her how to use an automatic Uzi, authorities said Tuesday. CBS…
By Nicole Girard via Liberals Unite Mitch McConnell really does not care about our problems. The way he talks about the needs of average Americans, you’d think we were his sworn, personal…
Foreign Policy
Arabs without God
By Brian Whitaker, author of Arabs without God In the midst of sectarian turmoil in the Middle East, one section of Arab society rarely gets much attention: those who reject religion entirely.…
The Israeli version of Steven Salaita: Occupation University fires Professor for Insufficient Zionism
By Amir Hetsroni This is how I became the Israeli version of Steven Salaita: I was teaching at Ariel University when administrators summoned me to a pre-dismissal disciplinary hearings claiming that my…
How the Gaza War Backfired on Netanyahu
By Ramzy Baroud (Maan News Agency) Netanyahu’s war-turned-genocide in Gaza has backfired badly — his strategy has helped resurrect Hamas, the very movement he tried desperately to crush. Aside from being a…
Russia denounces Obama Plan for Syria Air Strikes as Violation of Int’l Law
By Juan Cole Russia on Thursday pushed back against President Obama’s state plans for taking on the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) in Syria. Russian Foreign…
Obama’s ISIL Actions are Defensive, Despite Rhetoric of going on Offense
By Juan Cole President Obama’s speech launching his war on ISIL avoided the qualifications that he had earlier made, which had produced caviling inside the Beltway from politicians who confuse careless belligerency…
ISIL isn’t Medieval: Revolution, Terror and Statemaking are Modern
By Kevin McDonald, Middlesex University Over recent weeks there has been a constant background noise that Islamic State and its ideology are some sort of throwback to a distant past. It is…
ISIL Fighting With Weapons From US and 'Moderate' Syrian Rebels: Report
By Sarah Lazare via Commondreams.org The Islamic State (IS) is now in possession of lethal weapons formerly owned by so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels, as well as large quantities of arms produced in…
Gaza and Israel: Serial “Ceasefires” and the 70-Year War Continues (Chomsky)
By Noam Chomsky On August 26th, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) both accepted a ceasefire agreement after a 50-day Israeli assault on Gaza that left 2,100 Palestinians dead and vast landscapes…
Hamas, Shmamas: It’s about Israeli National Ambitions
By Brian K. Barber, special to Informed Comment Much recent commentary on forging a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israel makes two deceptive and unproductive claims: 1) Hamas is responsible for the…
3 Years War? Obama to Bomb Syria in fight against ISIL
By Juan Cole Juliet Eilperin and David Nakamura at WaPo report on a Monday evening dinner at the White House attended by foreign policy experts, in which President Obama expressed confidence that…
“Obama to outline campaign against ISIS” (Juan Cole at Chris Hayes, “All In”)
Juan Cole at MSNBC Juan Cole hosted by Chris Hayes, “All In”: “Obama to outline campaign against ISIS” ————- screenshot
Are ISIL fighters Afraid of Women with Guns?
BBC “In Kurdish areas of northern Syria, fighters have been battling Islamic State – or ISIS – for two years – and unlike Iraq’s kurdish forces, they get no help from the…
Iran begins to Emerge from three Decades of Isolation
Channel 4 News Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi tells Channel 4 News that there is a genuine negotiating bond of respect with the United States, but the negotiations are hard. Channel…
New Iraqi Government: Less than Meets the Eye?
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…
US Fighting ISIL on Social Media
AJ+ The US State Department is taking the fight against Islamic State group and others to social media. Their English-language project called “Think Again Turn Away” aims to “expose the facts about…
Do Palestinians have Freedom of Assembly? West Bank Protests Repressed
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Palestinians took part in marches across the West Bank on Friday calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and in protest against the continued confiscation of…
5 Things to Know Today about the Fight Against ISIL
By Juan Cole 1. On Sunday evening, BBC reports that Iraqi fighter jets bombed the villages of al-Riyadh and al-Nirab in the vicinity of Hawija, north Iraq, leaving 14 dead and 10…
Cole’s “The New Arabs” at Firedoglake Book Salon
By Juan Cole Firedoglake Book Salon on Juan Cole, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is changing the Middle East See also this recent NYT review by Irshad Manji FDL Book…
“Have you heard the one about the Ayatollah?”: Iran Hard Liners outraged at Internet Humor
By Golnaz Esfandiari via RFE/RL A friend of the Imam asks him, “Would you like to drink vodka or tequila?” Outraged at the indignity, the pious Imam slaps the man in the…
Did Anyone win the Gaza Conflict? Was it even a “War”?
By Ramzy Baroud (Maan) In the rush to analyze the outcome of Israel’s 51-day war in Gaza, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, some may have neglected an important factor: this was not a…