Новости за 13.11.2015

Years spent depicting head chopping fanatics as rebels, moderates, and revolutionaries in an effort to effect the toppling of yet another secular government in the Middle East. Years spent cultivating Saudi Arabia as an ally against extremism and fanaticism rather thantreating it as a country where extremism and fanaticism resides. Years spent treating the Assad government, Iran, and Russia as enemies rather than allies in the struggle against this fanaticism. And years spent denying any connection... Читать дальше...

As Paris trembles in the face of a horrific attack Friday, so does Beirut after twin bombings Thursday and so does Palestine everyday. But only for France has the Sydney Opera House changed its colors, and only for France – in a repeat of the Hebdo incident reactions – have Western presidents come out in horror and the global private media set up live updates, slide-shows, and video pages. The media's hierarchy of tragedy reflects and perpetuates a political hierarchy in which some lives supposedly matter more. Читать дальше...

According to the Le Figaro, when asked by IFOP, a respected French poling agency, if they would accept a non-democratic form of government to bring necessary reforms to France, 67% of the French said they would opt for a government of non-elected technocrats. 40% percent said they would back a non-elected authoritarian regime. Again, that survey was carried out the day before the bloody carnage in Paris. People may have poured out into the streets in an impressive show of unity earlier this year in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings... Читать дальше...

“I’ve never seen so many dead around me.  It looked like a battlefield, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere…” – Witness named Yasmine, as related to BFM television. This was “not just an assault on France but on all of humanity and the universal values we share.” -US President Barack Obama “What you are doing More

We are all France. Apparently. Though we are never all Lebanon or Syria or Iraq for some reason. Or a long, long list of additional places. We are led to believe that U.S. wars are not tolerated and cheered because of the color or culture of the people being bombed and occupied. But let a More

As Clintons are wont to do, Hillary laid a political trap and Bernie Sanders, in his Schlemiel-like way, stumbled right into it. In the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s smashing victory as the new leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Hillary’s super-PAC, Correct the Record, tarred Sanders as a Corbyn-lite renegade who has cozied up to untouchable figures like Hugo Chavez. About a decade ago, Sanders was part of a delegation that negotiated a sensible deal to bring low-cost heating oil from Venezuela to poor families in the northeastern United States. Читать дальше...

Imagine that you despised your brother-in-law and wanted to kill him. But you didn’t have the guts to do it yourself so you hired a hit-man to do the job for you. Would you still be guilty of murder? You’re darn right, you would be. So let’s apply this same rule to US foreign policy: Would More

In a 1988 issue of Life magazine, I wrote about the high rate of suicide among white males and attributed this to what society expected of them. Superman, Spiderman, maybe? They’re supposed to be everybody's Deux Ex Machina, the cavalry that arrives when individuals, groups, or even the globe are in trouble. I noted that as a black man, I could attribute my setbacks to racism and find plenty of data to back me up. Disputing the idea that racism is a drag on black progress has become a lucrative... Читать дальше...

For the past eight decades Saudi Arabia has been careful. Using its vast oil wealth, it has quietly spread its ultra-conservative brand of Islam throughout the Muslim world, secretly undermined secular regimes in its region and prudently kept to the shadows, while others did the fighting and dying. It was Saudi money that fueled the More

Photo: NASA. The US National Geographic Society published a survey of geographic literacy. This international survey of young people in the US and either other countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Britain—asked 56 questions about geography and current events. The organization’s survey discovered that about 87% of Americans, aged 18 to 24, the More

The case for reforming existing political economy is easy to understand but increasingly difficult to support. On the side of reform are the large, complex and interrelated political and economic relations that are now critical to feeding, clothing and housing hundreds of millions of people. Against reform are the institutions that support social irresolution in favor of a political economy of mass suicide. The Keystone XL pipeline that was recently ‘killed’ (temporarily set aside) to much self-congratulation... Читать дальше...

Pakistan refused to send troops to help Saudi Arabia and the UAE fight its war in Yemen. The Saudis and the Emiratis were furious. Ties seemed on the brink of being snapped. Then, last week, generals from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia met as their troops conducted a joint exercise. All seemed well. So, what was More

Are you being illegally surveilled by the New York Police Department (NYPD)? The Gothamist website recently exposed a NYPD undercover officer, “Melike Ser,” who had been spying on Muslim students at Brooklyn College.  As it reported, three college graduates had “intimate ties” with the officer, with “her presence during some of the most private moments of their lives, and the fear More

Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian camp, Beirut As families assemble to claim their departed loved ones in this observer’s south Beirut neighborhood of Haret Hreik, there have been at least 45 confirmed deaths. Nearly 250 people have been wounded, many seriously, and are being treated at the three Shia run hospitals, Al-Sahel, Bahman and Al-Rassoul Al-Aazam. All are victims More

Public office-holders in our constitutional democracy are trustees. They are custodians who supposedly act in the collective interest of the citizenry who have a stake in how our institutions perform.  Governmental bodies in the United States are not meant to be owned by those who lead them.  They are not possessions to be disposed of More

As we learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, [the point] isn’t just getting them beaten; it’s keeping them beaten [to] have this victory stick. — US Defense Secretary Carter, statement onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea,  November 5. The insurgents are losing . . . and they’re desperate. — General John F More

Mario Centeno. The austerity imposed on the Portuguese people by the One Percent has resulted in the election of a coalition government of socialists, communists, and a “left bloc.”  In the 20th century, socialism and the fear of communism humanized Europe, but beginning with Margaret Thatcher the achievements of decades of social reforms have been More

Awakening once again to songs of mourning doves and the clanging of numerous church bells, I’m counting my last few precious days here in the heart of Mexico.  Ornately painted calacas (skulls), elegantly clad skeletal Catrinas, ten foot tall mojigangas (giant puppets), fireworks and parades of Dia de Los Muertos are finished.  Now it’s back to life as usual in the streets More

A monument to the insurgents and civilians who died in the war with the Ukrainian army in 2014-15 was solemnly opened on November 4, 2015 in Debaltsevo, a small city on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The ceremony was presided by the leaders of the DPR, the head of the Debaltsevo city administration More

“Kashmir, a picturesque Himalayan valley, has been a bone of contention between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, since the decolonization and partition of Indian subcontinent”- This is how every media agency describes the situation in Kashmir. From Times to Guardian, Kashmir is about geopolitics. This callous and irresponsible appropriation of Kashmir’s decades-old indigenous resistance More

Genetically modified (GM) crops are going to feed the world. Not only that, supporters of GM technology say it will produce better yields than non-GM crops, increase farmers’ incomes, lead to less chemical inputs, be better suited to climatic changes, is safe for human consumption and will save the lives of millions. Sections of the More

As a University of Chicago Ph.D. candidate, I’ve not only undertaken investigative reporting of my home institution, the famed Obama library site and a college rankings powerhouse, but also used that odd opportunity to sort out consequences from causes and identify our higher ed system’s major problems. Currently, higher ed’s greatest flaw is its pre-modern, More

As candidates prepare for Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, it will be interesting to see how Bernie Sanders continues the ruse of promoting himself as a peace candidate. It will be even more interesting to see if Sanders supporters continue to give him a free pass on foreign policy issues simply because they align More

Dublin, Ireland. You got to love the British … or hate them. Being Irish I tend to hate them, especially at this time of the year when the poppy blooms on every chest on British TV. What is obscure becomes clear around the beginning of each November. How do the British get away with murder? More