Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Syria and the banality of evil
Violence and human loss in Syria became completely normalized in 2013
To borrow a cliché, in 2013 the violence and suffering in Syria came to embody the banality of evil. The tragedy has grown to such proportions that it has become repetitious – without variation, respite, or hope.
In much the same way, the mass of humanity that has fled Syria has also become banal. So omnipresent are the beggars and peddlers in neighboring countries, that one looks not at their misery but at the inconveniences they have created. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the center of hell is distinguished not by fire but ice. So, too, the inferno faced by Syrians – one of absolute, frigid, unalterable immobility.
The past year has also reaffirmed what we knew about Hezbollah, but which the party’s devotees always sought to play down: that it is an obedient branch of Iran’s security and intelligence apparatus, one that will willingly offer up its children to secure the interests of its sponsors in Tehran. Though the party’s leaders are competent and its intelligence services efficient, ultimately, like others in Lebanon, their role is that of employees advancing the political agenda of their paymasters...............
FULL ARTICLE HERE: Syria and the banality of evil
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
▶ Ukraine Rising (Part 1) - VICE TV on the Protests in Ukraine
VICE TV COMMENTARY ON VIDEO:
Published on Dec 16, 2013
For three weeks, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian protesters have been flooding the streets of Kiev, occupying government buildings and taking over the city's Independence Square. Initially, the demonstrators were expressing discontent at President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to pull out of a deal that would bring Ukraine closer to joining the European Union.
After an initial brutal police crackdown, the protests have grown in size and are now more about toppling the government and putting an end to corruption than joining the EU. The police have tried and failed to clear the tent city that has sprung up in the Independence Square—also known as the Maidan—and the occupied city hall that has been dubbed the "Revolution HQ." Protesters remain in the streets, despite the below zero temperatures.
LINK: ▶ Ukraine Rising (Part 1) - YouTube
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Senators McCain, Murphy join massive Ukraine anti-government protest, threaten sanctions | Fox News
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Dec. 15, 2013: U.S. Senator John McCain, center, speaks as Democratic senator from the state of Connecticut, Chris Murphy, second left, and Opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok, right, stand around him during a Pro-European Union rally in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine.AP
Anti-government protesters have set up an extensive tent camp in Kiev and erected barricades of snow hardened with freezing water and studded with scrap wood and other junk.
McCain, R-Ariz., and Murphy, D-Conn., joined the anti-government demonstration to express support for them and their European ambitions. The protests began Nov. 21 after Yanukovych announced he was backing away from signing a long-awaited agreement to deepen trade and political ties with the EU and instead focus on Russia, and have grown in size and intensity after two violent police dispersals.
"We are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe," McCain said during a speech, according to Reuters........
FULL ARTICLE: Senators McCain, Murphy join massive Ukraine anti-government protest, threaten sanctions | Fox News
BBC News - Peter O'Toole, Lawrence of Arabia star, dies aged 81
O'Toole announced he was retiring from the stage and screen in 2012
Actor Peter O'Toole, who starred in Sir David Lean's 1962 film classic Lawrence of Arabia, has died aged 81, his agent has said.He died on Saturday at London's Wellington hospital in London after a long illness, his agent added, saying he was "one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field".
The Irish-born star got his big break when Sir David cast him as British adventurer T E Lawrence.
He received an honorary Oscar in 2003.............
FULL ARTICLE HERE: BBC News - Peter O'Toole, Lawrence of Arabia star, dies aged 81
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
10 Rare and Unseen Pics After Pearl Harbor
Exactly 72 years ago today, Japan launched more than 350 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes against the U.S. naval base in Hawaii--a "date which will live in infamy," in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt. In fact, that Sunday morning is so seared into America's memory that the tumult of the weeks and months afterward is often overlooked. Here, on the 72nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor, LIFE.com presents rare and unpublished photos from Hawaii and the mainland, chronicling a nation's answer to an unprecedented act of war.
FULL ARTICLE W/PHOTOS HERE:
10 Rare and Unseen Pics After Pearl Harbor
Unpublished, a rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Dec. 1941.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard was founded in 1801. It had contributed ships to every American conflict, including the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I. It would prove absolutely essential to the war effort during World War II.
Source: George Strock/TIME & LIFE Pictures FULL ARTICLE W/PHOTOS HERE:
10 Rare and Unseen Pics After Pearl Harbor
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Syria Poison Gas Attack? Opposition Alleges New Assault
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013, Syrian civilians look for their belongings after clashes between the Sunni-dominated Free Syrian Army and Syrian soldiers loyal to Syria's President Bashar Assad, supported by Iraqi and Lebanese Shiite fighters, in the town of Hejeira, which Syrian troops captured, in the countryside of Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo) | ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMMAN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Opposition activists again accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of using poison gas in Syria's civil war on Thursday, and said victims had been discovered with swollen limbs and foaming at the mouth.
The activists told Reuters two shells loaded with gas hit a rebel-held area in the town of Nabak, 68 km (40 miles) northeast of Damascus, on a major highway in the Qalamoun region. They reported seven casualties.
Separately, the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union also accused Assad's forces of using poison gas.
"We have documented nine casualties from poison gas used by the regime in neighbourhoods of Nabak," it said on its Facebook page....(continued)
FULLARTICLE HERE: Syria Poison Gas Attack? Opposition Alleges New Assault
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