Monday, 17 June 2013 09:55
Shifting Historical Context
Context One: It is 1971 and the United States is mired in a losing war in Vietnam. Thousands of young American soldiers are coming back to the U.S. in coffins or physically and psychologically maimed. Scenes of war can be witnessed nightly on the evening news. In the midst of this mayhem the American military analyst Daniel Ellsberg gives the New York Times a copy of a classified analysis of the war entitled, “United States - Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967” aka the “Pentagon Papers.”
Saturday, 08 June 2013 11:01
The Power of Deceit
Little in this world is new but the means to do it; our actions and our behaviors are but regurgitations of our heritage. Our Western world gorges on its past and glorifies in it. Our children memorize and are mesmerized by the deeds of heroic figures the likes of Achilles and Oedipus, glorified by the great chronicler Homer, deeds done with power and deceit. Our children and our adults flock even now in 2004 to witness the fall of Troy with Brad Pitt extolling the virtues of Achilles and Sean Bean acting the sly Odysseus. Our hearts and our desires throb to theirs; we faint and flutter at their heroics as we witness the carnage of their exploits and the splendor of their victories.
Analysis
Appeal to the International community to support a process of dialogue and reconciliation in Syria between its people and Syrian government and reject outside intervention and war.
by Mairead Maguire
After a 10 days visit to Lebanon and Syria, leading a 16 person delegation from 8 countries, invited by Mussalaha Reconciliation Movement, I have returned hopeful...
Snowden Risks Life to Spark NSA Debate
Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who broke the NSA surveillance story earlier this month, joins us one day after both President Obama and whistleblower Edward Snowden gave extensive interviews on the surveillance programs Snowden exposed and Obama is now forced to defend. Speaking to PBS, Obama distinguished his surveillance...
Israeli Leaders & Supporters Scramble After Iran Election
Hassan Rouhani's unexpected victory in this weekend's Iranian election has sent Israeli hasbara into a tailspin. The desire for an Iranian bogeyman is so intense in the warmongering mainstream of Israeli and neoconservative discourse that any attempt to mask their pre-election desires and post-election frustration...
It's official. Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced it. Rouhani won 50.7% of 36.7 million votes cast.
Six candidates competed. Principlist Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf finished second. He received one-third of Rouhani's total.
During this apprentice period as a blogger I have learned and relearned how difficult it is to reconcile my interest in constructive dialogue on highly contested subject-matters with sustaining a tone of civility. Especially with respect to the Palestine/Israel struggle I have periodically failed, angering especially those who feel that their support of Israel is either inappropriately...
Read More...No opera by Richard Wagner could have been more dramatic. It looked as if it was directed by a genius.
It started low-key. A little piece of paper was thrust into the hand of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol as he was reviewing the Independence Day parade. It said that Egyptian troops were entering the Sinai peninsula.
Politics
The US Special Forces is a bizarrely gendered world, as I found out when I joined it to write a book about war. This all-male bastion is sexualized in a truly perverted way, particularly in its methods for turning young men into killers on command.
Read More...You need not suspect the motives of those responsible for NSA surveillance to detest what they are doing. In fact, we may have more to fear from spies acting out of patriotic zeal than those acting out of power lust or economic interest: Zealots are more likely to eschew restraints that might compromise their righteous cause.
Read More...Obama's on a fast track toward tyranny. He's heading for greater intervention against Syria. Ravaging the country entirely is planned. At issue is establishing another pro-Western vassal state.
Mass killing and destruction don't matter. Imperial priorities come first. Longstanding plans pre-date 9/11. Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas doesn't know the half of...
President Obama says that the reason he has finally decided to intervene in Syria by providing weaponry to Syrian rebels is because the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons in the conflict. Never mind that Obama has provided no evidence for his claim. Hey, if George W. Bush could get away with a bogus WMD claim for invading Iraq, why can’t Obama do the same...
Read More...There are a lot of things people don't know about Nader.
Any time the name 'Ralph Nader' comes up, it is sure to stir controversy. It is like waving a red flag in front of the Democrats.
As everything has to come to an end eventually, I am currently counting down the last few days of my ten-month trip in the United States. I was invited a couple of times to speak on what’s like for a Palestinian from Gaza to live in the U.S. for the first time.
Read More...Live_Blog
Live Blog: Turkey Protests
Protests at Taksim Square in Istanbul started after trees were torn up to make way for the redevelopment of Gezi Park. ( 16-Jun-2013 )
Top_Headlines
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Egypt and Ethiopia agree to bridge dam divide Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to hold further talks on the impact...
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Mali 'reaches deal' with Tuareg rebels Mali has reached a deal with Tuareg separatist fighters, paving the...
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French footballers face 'underage sex' trial French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, accused of paying...
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