Discrimination against Arabs part of Israel’s DNA
Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz: The Soho restaurant in Rishon Letzion apparently refused an Israeli couple’s request for a reservation. Landlords deny requests from Arab citizens to rent their apartments. Businesses look for excuses to fob off Israeli applicants who seek employment, and residential communities make sure that only certain Israelis can live there. There is…
Sri Lanka remains a damaged nation and the UN is part of the problem
What happened in 2009 was nothing short of killing on a mass scale. The BBC has received a leaked document that offers damning evidence: The United Nations failed in its mandate to protect civilians in the last months of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, a leaked draft of a highly critical internal UN report says.…
“Secularism is certainly eroding traditional power”
Rupert Murdoch is an old white man who likes old white men on Fox News. Host Bill O’Reilly said on US election night that the “white establishment is now the minority“. Now he’s just talking about the far-left taking over America. Or something. Enjoy:
Haiti struggles but embraces first ever fashion week
Hard to know what to think about this. Having recently spent time in Haiti, the country is struggling under countless problems but is it important that it can project a different image than one of desperation?
America’s future of complete global military dominance
Leading American historian Alfred McCoy imagines it (via TomDispatch): It’s 2025 and an American “triple canopy” of advanced surveillance and armed drones fills the heavens from the lower- to the exo-atmosphere.… A wonder of the modern age, it can deliver its weaponry anywhere on the planet with staggering speed, knock out an enemy’s satellite communications…
Only fools are crying over the fall of David Petraeus
The job of a real journalist is to be skeptical of establishment power. Sadly, many reporters rather love receiving cuddles from officials, generals and leaders. Michael Hastings is against all cuddles! His work has shown consistent distance and his recent book, The Operators, about the failed war in Afghanistan, is vital reading. His latest piece,…
US military incapable or unwilling to document its own wars
A great yet disturbing story via ProPublica: A strange thing happened when Christopher DeLara filed for disability benefits after his tour in Iraq: The U.S. Army said it had no records showing he had ever been overseas. DeLara had searing memories of his combat experiences. A friend bled to death before his eyes. He saw…