Month

Archives: January 2015

Inside the green schools revolution

By Bryn Nelson | (Mosaic: The Science of Life) - How can we design better, ‘living’ classrooms, places that will not only improve the lives of teachers and students, but also have…

5 Top Reasons Romney ought to have Withdrawn

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Likely the reasons Mitt Rimney decided not to run for a third time are financial - the big money just wouldn't make another bet on…

In 10 Years, No One In Helsinki Will Even Want to Own a Car: 3 Simple Ideas That Are Making Cities Sustainable

By Shannan Stoll | (YES! Magazine | "Cities are Now") An app that combines the affordability of ride sharing with the reliability of taxis. Playgrounds built as sponges for reusable greywater. From…

Fast Times at ISIS High: What Terrorists Want to Teach your Children (Taiwan Spoof)

Taiwanese Animators | (ISISville Series) - "Welcome to ISISville! The animated series that examines life under the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant! You’ve read the headlines. So you know ISIS…

As Americans are shot At: Saudi Death Sentence on Shiite Cleric inflames Sectarian Tensions

By Giorgio Cafiero | (Foreign Policy in Focus) - The fate of one Shi’ite cleric hangs over the Gulf like a sword of Damocles. [Updated: Two Americans were fired on in the…

U.S. Ally Yemen in Danger of Splitting into Two – Again

By Thalif Deen - UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) - When North and South Yemen merged into a single country under the banner Yemen Arab Republic back in May 1990, a British newspaper remarked…

Why the Israeli-Hizbullah Tit for Tat Probably won’t turn to War

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Last week an Israeli helicopter gunship targeted Hizbullah outposts in Syria southwest of Damascus, near the front with the rebel Support Front (Syria al-Qaeda), which…

Egypt bets on Suez Canal Expansion to combat Economic Crisis

CCTV America | - "Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi said he hopes the Suez Canal expansion project will increase his country's foreign cash reserves during his meetings while on an official…

The Need for New Blood at State Dept.: Obama’s Problem with the ‘Vision Thing’

By Andrew J. Bacevich | (Tomdispatch.com) - En route back to Washington at the tail end of his most recent overseas trip, John Kerry, America’s peripatetic secretary of state, stopped off in…

Over 80 Cartoonists And Comics Workers Boycott Israeli Occupation Firms

By IMEMC News & Agencies Report post More than 80 cartoonists and other workers in the comics industry, including colorists, writers, critics, and editors, from over 20 countries, signed an open letter…

$The false promise of fracking and local jobs$

The false promise of fracking and local jobs

By Susan Christopherson | (The Conversation) In a surprise decision that led to consternation in the oil and gas industry and elation among fracking opponents, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in December…

Netanyahu & Boehner: How Israel went from being a Democratic to a Republican Project

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- The audacity of Speaker of the House John Boehner colluding with the prime minister of a foreign country to undermine a sitting president is, I…

Network Climate Coverage: The Good, the Bad and the (Mostly) Ugly

MediaMatters4America | - Climate Coverage In 2014: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

As Gaza Refugee Babies die of Cold, Underfunded UN Agency Halts Rebuilding Aid to 400,000

By Charlie Hoyle | - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A massive shortfall in the $5.4 billion pledged for Gaza's reconstruction by the international community last October is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis…

New Saudi King to Obama: Oil Policy won’t Change

New Saudi King to Obama: Lower-price Oil Policy won’t Change

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - President Obama cut short his India trip to head off to Riyadh in the wake of the death last Thursday of King Abdallah of Saudi…

Women Empowered by Solar Energy in Bangladesh

World Bank | -- "Bangladesh has become the world's fastest growing market for solar home systems, thanks in part to IDA - the World Bank's fund for the poorest. Solar energy is…

Israel ‘systematically mistreats’ Palestinian children in custody

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an News Agency) -- Some 700 Palestinian children per year are arrested and face "ill-treatment" by Israeli forces, according to a new report by a children's rights group. (MaanImages/file) In the…

Obama Win: Dem Senators Flip-Flop, Delay Iran Sanctions Bill

By Golnaz Esfandiari and Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) WASHINGTON -- A key U.S. senator says he and nine other senators are holding their support for a bill imposing new sanctions on Iran…

Koch Bros To Spend Nearly A Billion Buying The 2016 Elections

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) - ""The Koch brothers’ operation intends to spend $889 million in the run-up to the 2016 elections — a historic sum that in many ways would…

Ms. Marvel Vs. Islamophobia

AJ+ | - "Who do you call when Islamophobia strikes? Kamala Khan, better known as Ms. Marvel. Street artists are using images of the Muslim superhero to cover up anti-Islam ads on…

Obama, Modi and India’s Solar Future

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) In his visit to India, Barack Obama pressed unsuccessfully for India to set specific carbon limits. Nevertheless, he did get agreement from Indian Prime Minister Narendra…

Kurds expel ISIL/Daesh from Syria’s Kobane after months of fighting

Rita Daou | Your Middle East Kurds expel Islamic State group from Syria's Kobane after months of fighting Banner Icon War in Syria Kurdish fighters have expelled Islamic State group militants from…

Photo-Bombing Obama’s Iran Talks (Cartoon)

Paul Jamiol | Jamiol's World - Via Jamiol's World

Egypt: 28 Protesters Killed Marking Revolution – Police & Excessive Force

Human Rights Watch | -- (New York) – The death of at least 20 people in Egypt during clashes with security forces surrounding the commemoration of the 2011 uprising underscores the need…

All Lives Matter: from Ferguson to Palestine

By Heike Schotten | (Ma'an News Agency) - In the United States, "Ferguson" -- the name of the town where unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot to death by police last…

Egypt Cancels Revolution Fete to Mourn Saudi King who derailed Revolution

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) In a great irony, the Egyptian government attempted to cancel the commemoration of the January 25 revolution four years ago, on the grounds that the late…

Angelina Jolie in Iraq: Int’l Community Failing Refugees from ISIL Brutality

Associated Press | -- "Actress and director Angelina Jolie is calling on the international community to do more to aid refugees displaced by fighting in Iraq and Syria. The UN special envoy…

Can US can help Mediate Yemen Crisis? US Embassy Cuts Staff…

CNN | -- "The United States struggles to maintain a sense of diplomacy in Yemen during political chaos." CNN: "U.S. embassy cuts staff in Yemen"

Turns out Rightwing Hindu PM more reasonable on Climate Change than US Congress (Obama visits Modi)

NDTV | -- "Six years after we signed a bilateral agreement we are moving towards commercial viability," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announcing an agreement on the nuclear liability issue after talks…

The Boehner-Obama Struggle over Iran Nuclear Talks has gone International

By Jasmin Ramsey | (WASHINGTON (IPS) - While it’s anyone’s guess whether a final deal will be reached over Iran’s nuclear programme this year, a number of key international actors have forcefully…

Why Fracking & Tar Sands are Doomed: Low-Cost Oil and Pollution

Tom Giesen| (Informed Comment) -- Here is a brief primer on the real implications of the decline of oil prices and environmental degradation on the unconventional petroleum industry (fracking, tar sands and…

Yemen Civil War? Masses Rally in Capital & South Secedes

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- From 1967 to 1990, and again briefly in 1994, South Yemen was an independent country. In the first period, of some 23 years, it had…

Climate-Denial Buffoon Inhofe takes Big $$ from Big Oil, Accuses Scientists of being Corrupt

Climate-Denial Buffoon Inhofe takes Big $$ from Big Oil, Says Scientists Corrupt

ThinkProgress Video | -- ThinkProgress: "Jim Inhofe (R-OK) Tells The Senate Why He Thinks Global Warming Is A Hoax" [Added by Juan Cole]: The Center for Responsive Politics' website Opensecrets.org details that…

Extremist Lieberman: Unified Palestinian-Israeli Party a threat to Israel as ‘Jewish State’

By IMEMC & Agencies Arab parties in Israel announced they would be running in the upcoming Israeli Knesset election, scheduled for March 17, in a unified list that could increase their representation…

Greece move left would Give Europe Chance to Rediscover Social Responsibility

By Marianna Fotaki (IPS) - The European Union should not be afraid of the leftist opposition party Syriza winning the Greek election, but see it as a chance to rediscover its founding…

Yemen: Freeze on US Drone Strikes as Gov’t Collapses

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Thousands demonstrated in Sanaa on Saturday morning against the Houthi take-over of the Yemeni government. Down south in Aden, there were big demonstrations on behalf of…

The Latest Blow to Israeli-Palestinian Peace

By Stephen Zunes | (Foreign Policy in Focus) -- The United States blocked the latest UN resolution to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine for the most disingenuous of reasons. Though not…

Now the DEA is Collecting our Phone Records: RIP 4th Amendment

By Hanni Fakhoury | (EFF) Think mass surveillance is just the wheelhouse of agencies like the NSA? Think again. One of the biggest concerns to come from the revelations about the NSA’s…

Obama, blindsided by Boehner, Snubs Netanyahu

By Alexandra Halaby | (IMEMC & Agencies) -- White House: Netanyahu Visit 'Departure From Protocol' Hours after the State of the Union address by U.S. President Obama, Boehner had invited Israeli Prime…

Poll: Americans support Obama on Negotiating with Iran

By Nancy Gallagher | (The Conversation) In his State of the Union address, the President’s core message was that the US has emerged strong from the twin crises caused by the 2001…

How Stable is Saudi Arabia?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) This article appeared at The Nation earlier this month. I'm reprinting an excerpt on the occasion of King Abdallah's death . . . the kingdom faces…

America’s Walking Dead: The Perpetual War Machine

By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) When it comes to the national security state, our capital has become a thought-free zone. The airlessness of the place, the unwillingness of leading players in the…

Ragtag Kurdish Forces Face ISIL assaults at ‘The Kobani of Iraq’

By Shalaw Mohammed | Kirkuk | (Niqash.org) -- NIQASH visits the northern Iraqi town of Kharabaroot, near Kirkuk, which has become the frontline for fighting between Iraqi Kurdish military and extremists from…

Floods and fires across Southern Africa raise alarm bells on climate change

SABC News | -- "Floods and fires across the southern african region are raising alarm bells on climate change once again. These effects are being felt across the globe as sea levels…

Netanyahu Imported by GOP to once again warn

Netanyahu Imported by GOP to ensure Iran War

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Republican House Majority leader John Boehner secretly invited Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington to address Congress and then once it was set up…

Surprise! German anti-Muslim Leader Resigns after Posing as Hitler

Euronews | -- "The leader of the anti-Islamisation PEGIDA organization in Germany has quit after a photo of him posing as Hitler was published in the Bild newspaper, throwing the future of…

Solar-powered plane to set off from Abu Dhabi for global flight

BBC News | -- "The plans have been set for the solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, to take off from Abu Dhabi and then fly around the globe using only the sun's…

Pakistan: Fighting Extremism with Schools, Not Guns

By Zofeen Ebrahim | -- KARACHI (IPS) - As a wave of outrage, crossing Pakistan’s national borders, continues a month after the Dec. 16 attack on a school in the northern Khyber…

Israel: Palestinian man arrested after stabbing nine on Tel Aviv bus

IMEMC | -- By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC & Agencies) -- A Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Tulkarem was shot, then taken into custody by Israeli police in Tel…

Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions will lead to War (and 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU)

Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions lead to War (& 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU)

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address slighted foreign policy in favor of touting domestic progress and proposing new domestic initiatives. But there were…

Yemenis living “hour to hour” as Houthis take Presidential Palace

SANA'A (IRIN) - Muneer Asharby nearly didn’t go to work today. It wasn’t until after noon that he finally braved the walk. Even so, he kept half of his hardware shop closed…

Bobby Jindal Gets Called Out for Muslim “No-Go Zones”

TheLipTV | -- "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to spread the myth of "no-go zones" after Fox News issued an on-air apology and correction for allowing its anchors to make the false…

Dual Use: Solar Panels conserve Canal Water In India

By Malini Shankar | (IPS) Sunlight pours over a break in canal-top solar panels recently installed over the Vadodara branch of the Sardar Sarovar canal project in Gujarat. Credit: Malini Shankar/IPSBARODA, India…

Obama wants new Mil. Authority, but Special Ops already on Missions in 105 Countries in 2015

By Nick Turse | (Tomdispatch.com) -- In the dead of night, they swept in aboard V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Landing in a remote region of one of the most volatile countries on…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Warn Israel Following Strike That Killed General

By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) -- The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned on January 20 that Israel should expect "devastating thunderbolts" in response to the January 18 air strike in…

Israel’s Syria Strike: Is it trying to Help al-Qaeda vs. Hizbullah & Iran?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- There are several questions around the Israeli helicopter gunship strike on Mazari` al-Amal in Syria's Quneitra Province, which killed Hizbullah personnel and an Iranian general.…

Israeli PM Netanyahu Campaigns to Discredit, Defund Int’l Criminal Court

By Alexandra Halaby - (IMEMC & Agencies) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the ICC announcement by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to initiate a preliminary investigation into Israel for possible war…

Why solar power is spreading so fast in Africa

The Economist | -- "Africans have been waiting for decades for the mains electricity which the rich world takes for granted. Sub-Saharan Africa’s 910m people consume less electricity each year than the…

The real Meaning of Fox’s “Fair and Balanced”

Paul Jamiol | (Jamiol's World) Via Jamiol's World

Richest 1% will have more Wealth than rest of Humankind by 2016

BBC | -- "Wealth amassed by the richest 1% will overtake the amount owned by the rest of the people in the world, according to a study by charity group Oxfam. The…

Why Martin Luther King would support Pres. Obama’s Tax on Super-Rich

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- In one of his last speeches, at Grosse Point, MI., the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., laid out his next campaign, the one he died…

It is Failed State in Yemen that permitted al-Qaeda to Train Paris Terrorists

CCTV America | -- "CCTV America’s Susan Roberts interviewed Yemen correspondent for The Times of London Iona Craig about how Yemen has played a role in al-Qaida training and the Charlie Hebdo…

We must Support Palestinians’ Decision to Join the Int’l Criminal Court

By Kenneth Roth | (Human Rights Watch)-- Published in: Los Angeles Times The Israel exception to Western governments' human rights principles has been starkly on display in the reaction to the Palestinian…

Gaza: Bringing War-Disabled Palestinian Youth back into Society

By Khaled Alashqar | (IPS) -- Samah Shaheen (right), one of Gaza’s many disabled young people, joined the Irada programme to acquire expertise, learn computerised wood carving and escape social marginalisation. Credit:…

Ocean Life on the Verge of Mass Extinction

TheLipTV | -- "Humans are leading us to unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them potentially putting us on the verge of a major extinction event, according to…

Amazing Green Cars at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- I caught the Detroit Auto Show on Saturday afternoon. As always, it was great to see the concept cars of the future. But if you…

50+ anti-Muslim attacks across France in Charlie Hebdo aftermath

RT | -- "France is suffering a wave of hate attacks against Muslims in the wake of last week's Islamic extremist attacks in and around Paris. Monitors of Islamophobia are reporting scores…

Iraqi Shiites, Fuming over Slow US Fight against ISIL, threaten to Revoke Agreement

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) - Four months have passed since the US began to work with an international alliance to confront the threat of the extremist group, the Islamic…

As ICC launches Israel War Crimes Probe, PLO & Hamas Applaud

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday said it welcomed the decision to open an initial probe on Israeli war crimes at the International Criminal Court. The ministry said…

After Obama veto threat re: GOP Sanctions, Iran says ‘Political Will’ can Advance Nuclear Talks

As Obama warns of veto re: GOP Sanctions, Iran says ‘Political Will’ can aid Nuclear Talks

By RFE/RL | -- GENEVA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says "political will" is needed to make progress in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program but that he believes such progress is…

French Pres. Hollande: Anti-Muslimism is as bad as Antisemitism: Muslims Must be Protected

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) French President Francois Hollande addressed the Institute of the Arab World on Friday, in a bid to reassure French Muslims, who fear being the victims of…

Charlie Hebdo & French ‘Secularism’: Does it really just privilege White Christians?

By Mayanthi Fernando | The Conversation Commentators in France and elsewhere have taken the recent terrorist attacks in Paris as an occasion to reflect more broadly about Muslims in France. Many read…

2014 Warmest Year on Record; So much for the “Pause”: NASA

NASA | Goddard Center | -- "The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years since…

US Mission Creep in Iraq, Part Deux

By Peter Van Buren | (Tomdispatch.com) --- The current American war in Iraq is a struggle in search of a goal. It began in August as a humanitarian intervention, morphed into a…

Top 7 Things to know about Belgium anti-terror Op that left 2 Dead

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Belgian police launched a counter-terrorism operation on Thursday in the eastern city of Verviers (pop. 56,000) near the German border. Verviers is one of the towns…

Learning from Paris: Are you Charlie Hebdo? (Juan on Radio w/ C. Lydon)

Christopher Lydon | Radio Open Source " Learning from Paris The story of the massacre at Charlie Hebdo has gone everywhere in the past week: into meditations on free speech and blasphemy,…

Muslim-Jewish Coexistence: Mark Cohen on its History and Relevance Today

by JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE for ISLAMiCommentary Professor Mark R. Cohen delivering a lecture to a seminar room full of professors and graduate students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (December 2014)Cohen…

‘State of War’ & Surveillance won’t help Press Freedom after ‘Charlie’

By A. D. McKenzie | PARIS (IPS) - In the wake of last week’s attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, a heated battle of opinion is…

Fox ‘News’ Schooled By French ‘Daily Show’ On Muslim ‘No-Go Zones’

AJ+ | -- "The host of France’s “Le Petit Journal,” Yann Barthès, asked his audience to flood Fox News with claims about Parisian “no-go zones.” Since the Charlie Hebdo attack, several Fox…

Sea Level Rising Faster in Threat to Coasts: Study

The Times of India | -- "A study said on Wednesday that sea level rise in the past two decades has accelerated faster than previously thought in a sign of climate change…

Will France intervene in Yemen after its al-Qaeda Claims Paris Attacks?

By Juan Cole | -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in south Yemen, claimed on Wednesday to have been behind the attacks in Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week.…

Gaza – reduced to Rubble by Israel – suffers through cold, hungry winter: ‘conditions catastrophic’

Gaza – reduced to Rubble by Israel – suffers cold, hungry winter: ‘conditions catastrophic’

RT | -- "Many thousands of Gazans face a freezing winter living in tents pitched amid the rubble of their ruined homes – as the UN is urging half a billion dollars…

Civilization’s Advance has depended on “Blasphemy” of Thinkers & Mystics

By Farhang Jahanpour The Wednesday edition of Charlie Hebdo (a week after the barbaric attack by two deranged terrorists on its premises) carried a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad, with a caption “Je…

Boko Haram Menaces Cameroon Schoolchildren after Massacre in Nigeria

By Ngala Killian Chimtom MAROUA, Far North Region, Jan 14 2015 (IPS) - “I’d quit my job before going to work in a place like that.” That is how a primary school…

Were Guantanamo Murders Covered Up As Suicides?

VICE News | -- "According to the US government, three detainees — all imprisoned as part of the global war on terror — hung themselves in their cells that night. But Army…

In aftermath of Charlie Hebdo, German Chancellor Merkel says Islam Belongs to Germany

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The thinly veiled hate group PEGIDA, which says it is against the "Islamization" of Germany (by which it means it wants German to be Muslimrein or…

Boehner would-be Assassin had .380 Handgun despite Hearing Voices, Planning Murder

WCPO | Cincinnati -- "Ebola, evil voices and the devil. Those are just a few of the things a Butler County bartender cited as reasons he was going to kill House Speaker…

Do Nigerians Matter to World Press? – 2,000 feared dead in Boko Haram Attacks

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org As many as 2,000 people are feared dead in Nigeria from what has been described as Boko Haram's deadliest attack amid ongoing bloodshed a UN…

Settlers, Olives, and Occupation: Voices from the West Bank

Vice News | -- "In response to last year's Gaza conflict, the Israeli government announced the construction of further settlements in the West Bank — a move condemned by the international community…

Fundamentalism for Dummies: The Paris Terrorists’ Ignorance and Poverty

By Akil N. Awan | (The National Interest) The masked gunmen who assaulted the Charlie Hebdo offices in a hail of automatic gunfire, leaving twelve people dead in their wake, were heard…

Determined to Protect Jewish Citizens, France to deploy thousands of Troops to protect “sensitive sites”

Determined to Protect Jewish Citizens, France to deploy thousands of Troops to “sensitive sites”

AFP | -- "Members of the Jewish community in Paris remain rattled after an Islamist attack that left four people dead at a kosher supermarket. France has deployed thousands of troops across…

The Right’s Determined lies about Keystone XL Creating Jobs

MediaMatters4America | -- "The right keeps on pushing lies about the Keystone Pipeline." MediaMaters4America: "The Keystone XL Jobs Lie"

Hezbollah’s Surprising Denunciation of Paris Attacks: is it Courting the West?

By Rola El-Husseini | (Special to Informed Comment) In a speech in Beirut on January 9, 2014, on the occasion of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah…

After the Paris Attacks: More Surveillance won’t Protect Free Speech

After Charlie Hebdo: More Surveillance won’t Protect Free Speech

By Jillian York | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) Following a terrorist attack, it is not uncommon to hear calls from politicians and government officials for increased surveillance. Fear and grief can lead to…

Paris Rally: Charlie Hebdo Team regret not Parading Caricatures of Hypocritical World Leaders

Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Le Monde reported on the Charlie Hebdo team at the Paris rally on Sunday, the largest demonstrations in France since the end of World War II. They…

J.K. Rowling takes Rupert Murdoch to Hogwarts School over his Islamophobia

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Rupert Murdoch is the billionaire press lord and major shareholder in News Corp., which own Sky News and Fox Cable News. He tweeted after the Paris…

New Republican Majority Wants to intervene in Obama’s Iran Talks

By Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) WASHINGTON -- Should U.S. President Barack Obama and Western powers reach a nuclear deal with Iran, they could face a new hurdle: a Republican Congress. Republicans are…

Guns: Americans more likely to be Shot by Toddler than by Terrorist

By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) Americans who live abroad -- more than six million of us worldwide (not counting those who work for the U.S. government) -- often face hard questions about…

Muslim Hero Lassana Bathily Saved Jewish Hostages in Paris

WotchitGeneralNews | --- "At a kosher supermarket in Paris, a quick-thinking Muslim employee hides several Jewish shoppers in the basement before sneaking out to brief police on the hostage-taker upstairs. In the…

After Paris attacks, could David Duke style Racist Parties Sweep to Power in Europe?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia was already raging through Europe before the Kouashi al-Qaeda Cell targeted the staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish…

Despite rising racism, European Muslims embrace democratic values

EurActiv | -- “For Muslims, Germany has become a home. But they see themselves being confronted by a negative image, defined by a minority of radical Islamists.” [kellinahandbasket/Flickr] A large portion of…

Indian State size of Texas requires Solar Panels on Bldgs. by 2015

Times of India | -- "The Haryana government has decided to usher in the New Year with one of the biggest pushes for solar power in the country. The state [pop. 25…

Brother of Slain Muslim Policeman: Assassins “Pretend Muslims,” Terrorists

BBC | -- "The brother of the Paris policeman [Ahmed Merabet] killed by the Charlie Hebdo shooter urged people not to avenge his death with further violence and reiterated that Islam was…

Saudis torture jailed Liberal Blogger w/ 1000 lashes for… Blogging

Human Rights Watch | (Beirut) -- More Lashes Pending for Creating Liberal Website, Insulting Religious Authorities King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia should overturn the lashing and prison term for a blogger imprisoned…

From Yemen to Paris: The al-Qaeda Franchise from the 15th to the 60th Parallel N.

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Analysts have been understandably cautious about the nature of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo staff and a Jewish deli in Paris. On the one…

French Far Right Poised to Exploit Paris Attacks for Political Gain

By Thomas Scotto | (The Conversation) On the streets of France there is a strong public response to the murders of 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. But…

How France’s Jewish Community is affected by Paris Antisemitic Terrorist Attacks

CCTV | (Ron Kampeas Interview) -- "CCTV America's Elaine Reyes interviewed Washington bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Ron Kampeas." CCTV: "Ron Kampeas discusses how France's Jewish community is affected by…

Winter Floods strike a Gaza reduced to Rubble by Israeli Shelling

GAZA CITY (Ma'an News Agency) -- Hundreds of Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday were forced to evacuate their homes due to rising water levels, as winter Storm Huda began…

How is the Press in the Muslim World covering the Paris Attacks?

By Joanna Paraszczuk | (RFE/RL) -- Media in the Muslim world have published a wide variety of reactions to the deadly attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in…

Yes, they’re Condemning the Paris Attacks: The Muslims’ War on Terror

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- When American commentators like Carl Bernstein complain that Muslim authorities have not sufficiently denounced the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris, they…

Paris attack becomes Political Football in Israel and Palestine

By Nasser Lahham | Ma'an News Agency | -- The shooting at a satirical magazine in Paris on Wednesday, which left 12 people dead, came at a very sensitive and dangerous time…

Charlie Hebdo: A Clash of Extremisms, not of Civilizations

By Aurelien Mondon | The Conversation | -- The attack on Charlie Hebdo was an abominable tragedy. It struck the heart of one of our capitals and symbols of our democracies as…

“Anyone but Bibi’: Israeli PM popularity slumps as 90% of his Campaign Money Comes from US

RT | -- "Israel's Prime Minister has kicked off his re-election campaign, with a well-funded operation, much of which is coming from abroad. More than 230,000 dollars has come in from various…

The Big Carbon Empire strikes Back

By Michael T. Klare | Tomdispatch.com | -- Around the world, carbon-based fuels are under attack. Increasingly grim economic pressures, growing popular resistance, and the efforts of government regulators have all shocked…

Paris Terrorist was Radicalized by Bush’s Iraq War, Abu Ghraib Torture

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Sharif and Said Kouashi, the two brothers for whom the French police are searching, were born in Paris of Algerian parents, Mokhtar et Freiha Méguireche,…

‘Cartoonists for Peace’ respond defiantly to Paris Terrorists

By A. D. McKenzie PARIS, Jan 8 2015 (IPS) - “They are cowards who react to satire by going for their Kalashnikovs.” That was how renowned French cartoonist Plantu described the killers…

MSM ignores Bombing of Denver NAACP by White Terrorist

MSM ignores Bombing of Colorado Springs NAACP by White Terrorist

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) -- ""An improvised explosive device was detonated against the exterior wall of a building housing the Colorado Springs chapter of the NAACP on Tuesday, officials said.…

The economics at the heart of Israeli settlements

JERUSALEM | January 2015 | (IRIN) | - Of all the hurdles to peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, perhaps the largest is the 150 or so Israeli settlements in the…

Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was…

Why was 2014 Hottest Year on Record? The Humans did it

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- A Japanese team has confirmed that 2014 was the hottest year on record. Moreover, ten of the warmest years have occurred since 1998. What the…

Obama will Veto Keystone XL Pipeline, Stopping 110 bn tons of CO2 Annually

Obama will Veto Keystone XL Pipeline, Stopping 110 mn tons of CO2 Annually

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) -- "The White House announced Tuesday afternoon that President Obama plans to veto a newly introduced pro-Keystone XL bill if it passes the Senate, the Associated…

As 2014 declared Warmest Year, Watch where World’s CO2 Comes From

Vox | --- "A new high-resolution computer model created by NASA shows carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas driving global warming, as you've never seen it before." Vox: "A visual tour of the…

How the US Nat’l Security State goes on Failing Upward

By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) As 2015 begins, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Imagine that it’s January 1963. For the last three years, the United States has unsuccessfully faced off…

Tee tomesing, tay tomesing? UK Kindergarten Teachers must report Terrorist Toddlers

AJ+ | -- "The British government wants kindergarten teachers to report their toddlers...for potential extremism. Seriously." AJ+ "Terrorist Toddlers In The UK? "

Whatever Happened to besieged Kurdish City of Kobane, Syria?

By Juan Cole | -- Kurdish forces (including both the local YPG and Peshmerga units from Iraqi Kurdistan), and supported by Free Syrian Army troops and coalition air strikes, have largely recovered…

What Black & White thinking misses about ISIS & why it Matters to us All

What Black & White thinking misses about ISIS/Daesh & why it Matters to us All

By Neslihan Çevik | (Daily Sabah) -- To combat radicalism, EU countries should avoid considering an increased interest in the origins and nature of Islam as a sign of potential radicalization, while…

Fearing NSA, Writers in USA and Worldwide Avoiding controversy, keyword Searches

PEN America | "Global Chilling" PEN America writes: "Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers is a new report demonstrating the damaging impact of surveillance by the United States…

Saudi General, Border Guards Killed by Daesh/ISIL for not being Fanatical Enough

France24 | -- "At 4,30 am 4 men coming from Iraqi territory attacked a border post on the northern frontier of Saudi Arabia. Two of the attackers were killed during the attack,…

National Shame: 50,000 Homeless Veterans Nationwide

ABC News | -- "ABC News' Bob Woodruff travels the country examining new efforts end homelessness among US veterans." ABC News: "50,000 Homeless Veterans Nationwide" Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's website…

Iran’s Rouhani and Direct Democracy: Wants Referendum to Sidestep Hardliners

Iran’s Rouhani & Direct Democracy: Wants Referendum to Sidestep Hardliners

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Iran's system of government is a hybrid. One wing of it consists of a dictatorial theocracy, centered on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The other wing…

Scotland: Largest Tidal Power Project Begins Construction this Month

Scotland: World’s Largest Tidal Power Project Begins Construction

STV | -- STV (Scottish TV) reports, "Construction work on the world's largest tidal energy project is set to begin... The 269-turbine installation, which is expected to power 175,000 homes, will be…

Ten Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See the Film

Ten Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See Oprah’s Film

By Emilye Crosby | (Zinn Education Project) In this 50th anniversary year of the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act it helped inspire, national media will focus on the iconic images…

Online Freedom of Speech under Siege even in “Democracies”

By Jillian York | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) In the midst of the global surveillance debate, talk of online censorship has often taken a backseat. Yet, all around the world, the inalienable right…

Stealing Bethlehem: How the Israelis are economically Strangling the Palestinian Town of Jesus’ Birth

By James Zogby (Ma'an News Agency) For those who do not know the place, Bethlehem possesses a timeless quality, derived from these artistic creations. It is a place of mystery and contradictions.…

Wind supplied 98% of Scotland’s household Power in 2014 and other Amazing Green Energy Stories

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Some 41% of the electricity consumed in Scotland annually is for households, while industrial and other facilities use the other 59%. With regard to the…

Can History Resolve the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?

Joel Beinin, Stanford University (History News Network /American Historical Association) -- "Joel Beinin is a professor of history at Stanford University. On January 3, 2015 he spoke at a roundtable convened by…

Iraq has Worst Year since Bush Invaded, is a Ghost of Former Self

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) -- The past year in Iraq is not easy to review. The assorted crises, both in security and politics, are well known around the world…

Why the US should welcome Palestine Pres. Abbas joining Int’l Criminal Court

by Aaron Magid | (Ma'an News Agency) Criticism against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is mounting after his United Nations Security Council Resolution and bid to join the International…

Why Egypt’s Threat to Arrest Amal Clooney will hurt its Economy

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Patrick Kingsley of The Guardian reported on Friday that Amal Clooney was threatened with jail by Egyptian authorities last February if she released a report…

When will it Explode? Jerusalem’s Silwan district is a Global Powder Keg

Vice News | -- "Throughout the past several months, Jerusalem has been a scene of clashes and violent attacks. Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood just steps away from Jerusalem's Old City, has been…

Sen. Lindsey Graham pledges allegiance to Israel’s Netanyahu vs. Obama

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) -- ""During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday, incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Appropriations Committee Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told…

After 500 Strikes: Is America’s Drone War Crashing And Burning?

AJ+ | -- "Drone strikes are the weapon of choice in America's so-called War on Terror. They've been used nearly 500 times in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2002. But while U.S.…

Another Terror: Do Taliban stand in the Way of Eradication of Polio Scourge?

By Inter Press Service Correspondents | KATHMANDU/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (IPS) - The goal is an ambitious one – to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. Towards this end, the multi-sector Global Polio Eradication…

What would Happen if the Int’l Criminal Court Indicted Israel’s Netanyahu?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- If the International Criminal Court takes up Israeli government actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, it could well find specific officials guilty of breaches of…

Indian Green Start-ups: Solar Backpacks & Daily Micropayments,

NDTV Prime | "Head's Up" | -- "Harvesting renewable energy, solar power, waste management - these concepts have been much explored across the world in the last decade. But has India made…

Iraq Faces Women’s Crisis: 1 Mn. Widows, Extremist Captives, Child Brides

By Alaa Latif | Sulaymaniyah | (Niqash.org) Bayan Nouri has a tough job over the next four years – the new Minister for Women’s Affairs in Iraq must try to improve the…

Allied Footage of Istanbul from 1915 in WW I

British Pathe | -- "Footage from 1915 of Constantinople, in the Ottoman empire (now Istanbul, Turkey), as the allies approach the city during World War One. Tracking shot on the water (Bosporus…

New Economic Pogrom: Israeli squatters uproot 5000 olive tree saplings In Palestinian West Bank

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Jewish settlers have uprooted more than 5,000 olive tree saplings in agricultural lands east of the town of Turmusayya in the central West Bank north of Ramallah, locals said…

President Obama’s Biggest Mideast Policy Challenges, 2015

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Barack Obama wanted to be the president who got the US out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and turned America's diplomatic energies to the more promising…

U.S. Twists Arms to Help Defeat Resolution on Palestine

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The United States re-asserted its political and economic clout – and its ability to twist arms and perhaps metaphorically break kneecaps – when it successfully…

New “Sustainable City” in Dubai aims to be Net Carbon Zero

Dubai City | -- "The goal of sustainability is to enhance quality of life, without compromising the needs of future generations. Sustainability is achieved by balancing the social economic and environmental needs…

Israel War Crimes Trial in 2015? Palestinians sign up to join International Criminal Court

RT | -- "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has signed up to join International Criminal Court, paving the way for the investigation on Israel's possible war crimes in the West Bank. It's in…

Nature’s Fireworks: The Northern Lights in Troms, Norway

Euronews | -- No Comment TV: "Magnetic midnight in Norway - no comment"