Blog

  • Mubarak, Army, U.S., Israel vs Egyptian People

    [As government forces have attacked peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square, Emad Mekay from Cairo reports] Mubarak is clearly backed by the Americans. He took some moves after speaking with Obama and a visit by a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner. Mubarak, the army, the Americans and the Israelis are clearly on one side.…

    Read more »


  • Unrest Spreads to Sinai

    A Bedouin youth casually spreads out a piece of cloth before a police headquarters in Sheikh Zwayyed town in Sinai, the vast desert area to the east of Cairo across the Suez. “I will leave when Mubarak leaves,” he says. [Full piece from Inter Press Service]

    Read more »


  • Chomsky: Strategic and Economic Objectives, Not Anti-Islamization, Drives U.S. Policy

    [While many are claiming that a central goal of U.S. policy is to minimize influence of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Noam Chomsky contributed this to our blog] It is well-established, including the major scholarly literature, that the U.S. supports democracy if and only if that accords with strategic and economic objectives.  Following…

    Read more »


  • An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

    ————————————————————————————————————————— [To sign; for recent news releases on Egypt from the Institute for Public Accuracy] Dear President Obama: As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping…

    Read more »


  • Report from Cairo

    From Alex Ortiz in Cairo: “The army is beginning to come into Cairo … tens of thousands converged in midan al-gala’ coming from three different protest marches. Total communication blackout. Reports of senior police officers ordering their men to stand down and not beat or fire tear gas at protesters in Midan al-gala an hour…

    Read more »


  • Report on Latest from Cairo

    CAIRO, Egypt [11 p.m. local time] — 1-Some government media figures appear to be joining ranks with the protesters. Mahmoud Saad, a talk show host in the Egyptian state-run TV, has announced that he will no longer appear on TV starting tonight after he came under pressure from top government officials to report “untruths” about…

    Read more »


  • Police in Cairo Beating up Jounalists

    [From 9:28 a.m. ET]: Police started beating up journalists protesting outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo. They beat up women journalists too who were screaming and crying for help. “Do not club women. Do not club women,” some of the men rushed to the police asking them not to target women. “You’ll make things…

    Read more »


  • From Alex Ortiz in Cairo

    [The Egyptian government has apparently block Twitter, Facebook (as of Wed. morn U.S. ET) and other internet tools, though apparently some people are able to get around such restrictions. Email from 8:45 a.m. ET:] Downtown Cairo today remains in a state of high alert. There are many security forces and plainsclothed policemen visible on every…

    Read more »


  • Video from Cairo

    Phone lines are intermittent and Twitter has reportedly been blocked in Egypt. Here is a live video feed: ustream.tv/channel/cairodowntown [update: ustream has been blocked, streaming now intermittently at livestream.com/cairowitness — further update, now at: www.justin.tv/cairowitness] Here is a YouTube video from earlier today:

    Read more »


  • Ukraine’s Assault on a Free Press

    In Ukraine, where media diversity is often defined by which powerful oligarch controls which TV station, one network, TVi — known for its independent investigative style — is under intense legal pressure, with its owner not part of Ukraine’s power circles. TVi faces a court hearing on Tuesday over a legal claim that the station’s…

    Read more »


  • How Biden Could End the Ukraine Crisis

    Expert David Gibbs on the dangers of expanding NATO into Ukraine and how the Biden administration should deescalate the current conflict. He said that to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, “the Biden administration should offer a written guarantee that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO. To do this would satisfy” a “key Russian demand.”

  • Ukraine, Cyberattacks and Undermining Democratic Processes

    Amid widespread reports of cyberattacks on Ukraine, expert John Quigley weighs in on the “slippery slope” of self defense. He says the notion “has been misused as an illegal threat or for outright war” and that since the context for its creation has passed, “there’s really no legitimate reason for NATO to exist as an…

  • 100 U.S. Organizations Release Statement Urging Biden “to End the U.S. Role in Escalating” the Ukraine Crisis

    For the United States and Russia, the only sane course of action now is a commitment to genuine diplomacy with serious negotiations, not military escalation – which could easily spiral out of control to the point of pushing the world to the precipice of nuclear war.

  • Roots of Joe Rogan Controversy: “A War on Public Health”

    Journalist Alex Kotch said that to understand the origins of Covid-19 disinformation, we must look to corporate greed.

  • How NATO Inflames Relations with Russia

    “Coming so soon after their 20-year war in Afghanistan, U.S. officials should not be looking for new foreign interventions in the Ukraine — which risks even worse outcomes than the ‘War on Terror’ produced,” David Gibbs said.

  • “Insane Reality”: As Wealthy Meet at Davos, Taxing them Could Provide for Humanity

    Groups including the Fight Inequality Alliance, Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam, and Patriotic Millionaires released a report, “Taxing Extreme Wealth,” which reveals that modest taxes on the richest could “lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty” as well as “deliver universal health care and social protection for all the citizens of low and lower middle-income…

  • Post Office Offering COVID Tests

    Lisa Graves, executive director of the watchdog group True North Research and leader of the BOLD ReThink project, said: “The Postal Service is one of the largest workforces in the U.S. and with forward-thinking leadership it can play a significant role in providing services and assistance so many Americans need, like COVID-19 tests to help Americans protect their health.”

  • A Campaign Against COVID Public-Health Measures

    A new investigative report reveals how a “corporate-bankrolled campaign” to combat public health measures began, and “how it has continued to supplant public health experts and hijack the governmental response to the pandemic.”

  • Newsom Fact-Checked on Rejection of Sirhan Parole on RFK Assassination

    Expert Lisa Pease contends there are numerous falsehoods in California Governor Gavin Newsom’s statement denying Sirhan Sirhan’s parole.

  • Maya Angelou, the Quarter and Real Change

    Kali Holloway said today, “I suspect that Dr. Angelou, an outspoken activist for the liberation of black folks, would question her placement on the same coin as a man who stole even the teeth of those he enslaved. I believe she would recognize the irony of America’s willingness to put a black woman on its…

Mastodon