It’s like the ghost of George W. Bush, but with smoother segues. …and so it begins: Now is not the time to retreat from freedom’s rise. [...] Yet at the same time, we know these revolutions can bring to power forces that are neither democratic nor forward-looking. Just as the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, [...]
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Assad’s Evil Regime, No One is Safe
Hamza al-Khateeb was 13 years-old. The details are horrifyingly shocking. From Al Jazeera and be prepared if you’re going to read on: Arrested during a protest in Saida, 10km east of Daraa, on April 29, Hamza’s body was returned to his family on Tuesday 24th May, horribly mutilated. The child had spent nearly a month [...]
Ryan Lizza: Obama is a ‘Consequentialist’
One reaction among liberals to the Bush years and to Iraq was to retreat from “idealism” toward “realism,” in which the United States would act cautiously and, above all, according to national interests rather than moral imperatives. The debate is rooted in the country’s early history. America, John Quincy Adams argued, “does not go abroad [...]
War Hawks and Neocons
Security forces in Syria met thousands of demonstrators with fusillades of live ammunition after noon prayers on Friday, killing at least 81 people in the bloodiest day of the five-week-old Syrian uprising, according to protesters, witnesses and accounts on social networking sites. – Security Forces Kill Dozens in Uprisings Around Syria We will never be [...]
Catching Up with the Right
TM NOTE: Well, this was supposed to be up hours ago, but a little life interruptus impeded my best intentions. So, finally, here you go… Tired of being on the receiving end of damaging stories developed by liberal groups such as Media Matters and the Center for American Progress, conservatives are looking to launch their [...]
Rationalizing Libya
“It was not — it was not a vital national interest to the United States, but it was an interest and it was an interest for all of the reasons Secretary Clinton talked about. The engagement of the Arabs, the engagement of the Europeans, the general humanitarian question that was at stake”… Defense Secretary: Libya [...]
Peter Beinert’s Right, It’s The End Of An Empire
Some commentators love the Libya war; others hate it. But most agree that it’s profoundly unnatural that we were pushed into it by… France. Welcome to the post-American world. In the age we’re entering, most of the time, the choice will no longer be between humanitarian interventions controlled by the United States and humanitarian interventions [...]
Israeli – Palestinian Tensions Rise, as Film Tries to Personalize Conflict
“Is this the face of a terrorist?” asks the American poster for Julian Schnabel’s new film, Miral, about a young Palestinian woman of the same name. Dressed as a schoolgirl, looking ten years younger than her actual age of 26, Freida Pinto stares back, the sullenness in her eyes a residue of shouldering the twin [...]
Why Isn’t Obama Targeting Syria Next?
**UPDATED** President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public pledge to look into granting Syrians greater freedom on Thursday as anger mounted following attacks by security forces on protesters that left at least 37 dead. – Thousands chant “freedom” despite Assad reform offer You think it’s America’s job to interject ourselves and save the world? You [...]
Egyptian Revolution Inspired by Liberalism
“He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: ‘We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,’” Ben-Eliezer said. “‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and [...]
Barack Obama Wins the Nobel Prize for Peace
expanded edition cross-posted at Huffington Post The Nobel Committee announced Friday that the annual peace prize was awarded to Barack Obama, just nine months into his presidency, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The award cited in particular Mr. Obama’s effort to reduce the world’s nuclear arsenal. “He has [...]
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The Pines-Paz ‘Wake Up!’ Clap on Iran
–edited version cross-posted on Huffington Post– The background, as always, is Iran, which will be up front today as world leaders take up the subject of sanctions. Former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s main political opposition leader, called Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy “wrong and adventurist” this week but came out against new sanctions, saying he [...]
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What’s Up with All the Bad Syria Reviews?
–updated below– Part of it begins with the Syria – Iraq squabble. Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday dismissed Iraqi accusations that his country has been used as a launching pad for violence in Iraq, calling the allegations “immoral” and politically motivated. Iraq and Syria are entangled in a diplomatic dispute over demands that Damascus [...]
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After Cairo and Iran: Next Steps for US Diplomacy in the Middle East
Israel Policy Forum (IPF) has put out an analysis of what comes next in the Middle East through U.S. diplomacy. A conference call followed, with my notes offered below. The paper is here, as is the executive summary, giving recommendations to the Obama administration on Middle East policy and the way forward towards equilibrium. After [...]
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Syria’s al-Assad Moves Against ‘Honor Killings’
On this Independence Day weekend, we here at TM.com acknowledge the decree of President Bashar al-Assad as a small step forward for women in the Middle East. Syria has scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences handed down to men convicted of killing female relatives they suspect of having illicit sex. Women’s groups had [...]
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TM Must Reads
THE 21st century world offers ways to tweak your appearance, or alter it altogether, with women finally able to combat directly the comparison that’s always been around. Men look distinguished as they age, while women look old, unattractive, or to use Rush Limbaugh’s favorite comment, who wants to look at a woman with wrinkles? The 2012 plastic surgery statistics are out and the American Society of Plastic Surgery tells the story.
The real question about Hillary is this: When people take a new look at her in the coming years, will they see the past or the future — Mrs. Clinton or Madam President? – Maureen Dowd IT’S A classic front page from Huffington Post, coupled with a post by Jason Linkins, which details what’s been going on.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy “Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there.
“Norma Rae is a survivor and for the first time in her life she’s got a chance to become something more… a winner.” – Promo for “Norma Rae” CRITICS like Anne-Marie Slaughter, but especially Maureen I-Love-My-Pearls Dowd, and others [most of whom didn't read the book or do their homework] who are blaming Sheryl Sandberg for being a billionaire Ivy League graduate, while accusing her of letting corporations and government off the hook, are missing a major point.
Great sex doesn’t always just happen. Sometimes, it takes a little planning, especially if — like many Americans — you’ve been in a bit of a sex rut. Do some prep work by turning your bedroom into a love nest: Make the bed (with new, or at least clean, sheets), tidy up, light a candle or two, and queue up a sexy playlist on your iPod.
“You Don’t Own Me” PSA -Official from You Don't Own Me on Vimeo. WHO DOESN’T know the song “You Don’t Own Me,” sung by Leslie Gore? The movie First Wives Club helped to reignite the relevancy of the song.
“Last night I interviewed Jill Stein the presidential candidate for the Green Party on this show. And I confess right now, I should have asked her to just get out of the race.” – Jennifer Granholm, “The War Room” [Current TV] THE ARGUMENT Jennifer Granholm makes above is a tactic that no longer fits the times.
“With that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50, 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute,” Chief Oates said. [New York Times] IN THE GAPING MAW of our leadership vacuum stands Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates, whose resolve, vulnerability and humility inside the vortex of a man made hell revealed what nobody in Congress or either political party has shown in decades. Leadership without regard to anything but his own duty to the people, which included the cops in the eye of volcanic carnage.
“Rick Doblin has done a lot for the field, but he is more of a populist,” Grob says. “We need careful and controlled scientific studies showing the efficacy of these drugs so funding can continue.” Broader awareness of these sorts of end-of-life psychedelic studies could be good for everyone, the researchers say.
*updated below* So much for keep calm and carry on, what Joe Scarborough proclaims to be his motto. It was the weirdest one-on-one back and forth with a high profile talking head imaginable. It makes high school look mature.
**UPDATED** Would we be any worse off with Stephen Colbert as president? I doubt it. Politifact has watched the video “(repeatedly!
Despite rising public concern about the federal budget deficit, Americans favor keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are rather than taking steps to reduce the budget deficit (by 60% vs. 32%). – Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefits This is starting early, so it’s time to revisit the facts.
“If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off.” – Sect. Hillary Clinton Women can do it, too.
The interview with Obama by George Stephanopoulos wasn’t nearly as contentious as the interview with the Edwardses. No Republican talking points from Stephanopoulos yesterday, like when he accused Edwards of abandoning the troops with this beauty: “Do you think the Democrats should be saddled with the idea of completely cutting off funding for the troops?” Or this one: “You know, a lot of Democrats still in the Senate think that your position here is cynical political theater.
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