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 »


  • Ukrainian Missile Crisis

    “During the Cuban crisis, Kennedy was under intense pressure to act militarily, by striking the Soviet missile sites or invading Cuba, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff; members of the Executive Committee (ExComm) of the National Security Council”

  • Over 200 Nursing-Home Staff Deaths Reported in Recent Weeks

    In the last nine weeks, more than 200 nursing-home staff have died of Covid-19––over three deaths per day on average, despite 41 percent being up to date on their vaccines. Walker Bragman says these workers “deserve very clear warning of the high death rate, and additional workplace safety measures and hazard pay to match.”

  • Activists Demand: “Negotiations Not War”

    Two protests in opposition to nuclear war will take place on Friday, October 14.

  • Medicare Advantage Is a “Cash Monster”

    The New York Times recently published an investigative piece on Medicare Advantage, revealing that major health insurers have exploited the program “to inflate their profits by billions of dollars.” Jim Kahn comments here.

  • * AFRICOM and Haiti * Drone Killings, Martin Sheen Spot

    “Noted actor Martin Sheen has provided the voice-over for two 15-second cable spots critical of U.S. drone warfare, just announced by BanKillerDrones.org, which is seeking an international ban on weaponized drones.”

  • Persistence of High Covid Death Rates in Older Americans

    Jennifer Nuzzo says waning Covid-19 immunity and low booster uptake have led to a situation in which Americans over the age of 65 are still quite vulnerable to severe illness and death from Covid-19 infections.

  • Changing Mask Guidelines: “Awkward Dance” Between CDC and OSHA

    A process is now underway for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to issue a new set of standards. Public health experts fear that the CDC’s newest guidelines on masking––which no longer recommend universal masking in healthcare settings––may weaken OSHA standards.

  • Protests in London and D.C. Against Prosecution of WikiLeaks Founder

    “Fighting extradition to the United States, Assange has been imprisoned in the UK since his arrest in 2019, when the Trump administration levied 18 counts which would criminalize each step of the reporting process, including soliciting, receiving, possessing, and publishing classified information. Major news outlets and press freedom groups across the board have condemned the…

  • * Putin’s Annexation * Biden’s Lies About Backing Iraq War 20 Years Ago

    Zunes notes that the U.S. government is the “only government to recognize Israel’s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights and Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara.” … Biden has claimed: “From the moment ‘shock and awe’ started, from that moment, I was opposed to the effort.” But Zunes notes: “Biden defended the imminent launch…

  • Assessing Early Data on Monkeypox Vaccine’s Effectiveness

    The CDC released early analysis that indicates people who were eligible for the Jynneos vaccine but did not receive it were 14 times more likely to contract the virus compared with vaccinated people. But Keletso Makofane, a specialist in intersections of health and human rights concerns, said the public must be careful not to over-interpret…

Mastodon