The Right Finds Virtue in Extremism Editor’s Note: As crazy as it might seem to any rational observer, many on the American Right have been persuaded that a reform law – setting limits on what health insurance companies can do to their customers and requiring some coverage for other Americans – is a secret totalitarian plot to deprive the nation of its liberties. Yet, in whipping up this frenzy, right-wing talkers and Republican leaders are risking a resurgence of violent extremism like the militia movement of the 1990s, which reached a crescendo with the Oklahoma City terror bombing in 1995, … Continue reading US Republican Party Finds Extremism

US-Israeli Relations at a Crossroads Editor’s Note: The long U.S.-Israeli alliance is at a crossroads, with the Obama administration urging renewed Middle East peace talks and Israel’s Likud government refusing to take some of the key U.S.-recommended steps to set those talks in motion. Though Israel retains much of its legendary clout in Washington – and with influential neoconservatives making its case on op-ed pages and talk shows – there are more voices now speaking out against the old conventional wisdom, as former CIA analyst Melvin A. Goodman notes in this guest essay: Former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban once … Continue reading US-Israeli Relations maturing!

Welcoming a CIA Official at Fordham Editor’s Note: Though George W. Bush has been out of the White House for more than a year, the “war on terror” theme continues to have a strong appeal to many Americans who refuse to rethink its rationale and morality. That attitude was on display last week at Fordham University where CIA covert operation chief Michael Sulick was warmly received and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, now a critic of CIA abuses, wasn’t, as Debra Sweet, national director of World Can’t Wait, describes in this guest report: I’m not sure what was worse; sitting … Continue reading CIA Official at Fordham University

A Surprise Tea-Party Confrontation Editor’s Note: Oklahoma-based journalist Richard Fricker was with his wife on a spring-break vacation to Washington when he came face to face with the Tea Party furor. In this first-person account, Fricker describes how a cell-phone comment apparently upset the protesters, who chased him and called him (cover your ears!) a “professor”: When I visited the Capitol grounds on March 21, the day the House of Representatives passed healthcare reform, I was aware that some protesters there had been directing violence, threats and insults against members of Congress, but I was surprised when I ended up … Continue reading Tea-Party Confrontation!

Spy Takes US/Israeli Secrets to Grave Last week’s death of Israeli spymaster David Kimche – and the omissions in his obituaries about his most sensitive operations, especially those regarding the United States – are a reminder of how much crucial history is being lost as key figures from this era take their secrets to the grave. Share this article ShareThis // Email Printer friendly The failure to debrief as many of these people as possible can be blamed significantly on U.S. mainstream journalists who in years past took the lead in collecting, vetting and presenting serious evidence of historical wrongdoing, … Continue reading David Kimche – Takes US/Israeli Secrets to Grave

Smokers’ Corner: Smug thugs By Nadeem F. Paracha dawn.com The truth is, if men (and some women) gladly sacrifice the concept of responsible (and sane) journalism just so they can pull off a sensational show that would win them fame and a bagful of corporate sponsors, if they are the ones claiming a ‘jihad against corruption’ and ‘patriotism,’ then God help us all. A friend of my brother’s, who is also the son of a pesh-imam, once told me an interesting incident. A bright young man doing an MBA, the imam’s son had decided to serve his father’s wish (nay … Continue reading TV Thugs in Pakistan

Plight of the falcon By Bhagwandas dawn.com Residents of Central Asian region, the rare and endangered Saker and Peregriene Falcons are trapped in large numbers in NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan to cater to the rich Arab hunters who arrive every year to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard. Rs300mn project launched for Kirthar wildlife Millions of migratory birds of hundreds of species visit our land to spend winter here and their colourful presence enhances the natural beauty of our country. But due to the policies of our avaricious decision makers, the Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) and Peregriene Falcon (Falco peregrinus) … Continue reading Pakistani falcons and the Arab guest

dawn.com Eiffel tower submerging into darkness at 8:30 pm (local time) on March 27, 2010, in Paris as part of the Earth Hour switch-off. – AFP Landmarks go dark, millions unplug for Earth Hour LONDON: Europe’s best known landmarks – including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome’s Colosseum – fell dark Saturday, following Sydney’s Opera House and Beijing’s Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event. In the United States, the lights went out at the Empire State Building in New York, the National … Continue reading Landmarks, cities worldwide unplug for Earth Hour

No pre-emptive action By Huma Yusuf dawn.com The role played — or not played — by police in fuelling religiously motivated violence needs urgent scrutiny, and should be one of the main drivers of institutional reform. – (File Photo) THANKS to media coverage, there has in the last few weeks been a renewed interest in police brutality and, by extension, police reform. But another aspect of police negligence has not graced our headlines and on-screen tickers. The role played — or not played — by police in fuelling religiously motivated violence needs urgent scrutiny, and should be one of the … Continue reading Mullahs and Pakistani Police – rats in the bed together?

De facto versus de jure – 2 By Ardeshir Cowasjee dawn.com “Since the advent of this democratic government, the world has been at a loss to know who to talk to in Pakistan — a great stumbling block, and it is only the US and to a certain extent the UK who have sorted themselves out and decided that the chief of army staff is the man.” – APP (File Photo) A UNIVERSALLY accepted truth is that the government we have is powerless, that the state is non-functional, and that law and order has fled (if it ever has been … Continue reading Who does one talk to in Pakistan?