2011: The Year in Civil Liberties

It’s been a year of populist uprisings, economic downturns, political assassinations, and one scandal after another. Gold prices soared, while the dollar plummeted. The Arab Spring triggered worldwide protests, including the Occupy Wall Street protests here in...

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A Tale of Two Cities: Weimar and Washington

Mark Twain is credited with saying that “History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.” Today’s United States is often compared to other historic nations, whether at their prime or about to decline and fall depending on one’s own political perspective....

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The Bahrain Uprising in Numbers

  Population of Bahrain: 1.2 million Number of citizens: 535,000 Percentage of citizens who are Shia Muslim: 70 Percentage of those in government: 13 Number of senior positions they fill in the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Cabinet...

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The NDAA Repeals More Rights

Listen to Rep. Paul deliver this address. Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed. The 4th Amendment has been rendered toothless by the PATRIOT Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers, and...

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Sometimes, Bad-Tasting Medicine Needs to Be Swallowed

Like a mother forcing her children to take bad-tasting medicine for their own good, disgruntled American “allies” have recently compelled the financially ailing U.S. superpower to scale back meddling abroad that it can no longer afford. The United States — always...

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Predictions for 2012

Predictions are always problematic – there’s that pesky notion of “free will,” [.pdf] not to mention the stubborn refusal of reality to conform to our preconceptions. Yet they are obligatory for a columnist this time of year, and so what...

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Iranian Delegation in Iraq To Mediate Political Squabbles; 13 Killed in Attacks

Iran has taken notice of the escalating political tensions in Iraq and sent a delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan to help defuse the situation. The tensions which have a significant sectarian component led to last Thursday’s bombings in Baghdad, according to those who took credit for the violence. Meanwhile, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in new attacks.
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2012: Revolution or Devolution

The year 2011 marked a critical confluence of militarism and revolution, not only in places like Libya and Egypt, but also here at home, where massive demonstrations in cities and towns throughout the country were met with a well-oiled law enforcement machine deployed...

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Interior Ministry Bombing Message to Maliki; 14 Killed Across Iraq

In what may be too obvious a message against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a suicide bomber attacked the Interior Ministry, leaving dozens of victims. Overall, at least 14 Iraqis were killed and 41 more were wounded in that and other assaults across the country. Three Iranian pilgrims were also wounded in an attack in Dujail. Meanwhile, the political upheaval Maliki launched continues to threaten the coalition government.
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The Duke of Nablus

The name of Munib al-Masri has recently come up as a possible candidate for prime minister of a Palestinian national unity government. Not being a member of either Fatah or Hamas, he is acceptable to both. Al-Masri himself denies any such ambition. He says that he is...

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