Month: October 2014

“Large parts of Egypt’s civilian infrastructure have been placed under army jurisdiction, a move nominally aimed at terrorists that also makes it easier for the government to try members of the political opposition in the country’s opaque military courts” … Egypt Places Civilian Infrastructure Under Army Jurisdiction (Guardian) … and “[t]he press, which experienced a […]

A 36-yr.-old Tunisian says, “Because [politicians] have done nothing for us. As a citizen, if I don’t have faith in someone, why should I give him my vote?” His father adds, “Things are better now than with [Ben Ali]. Now we can speak, now we can breathe. If things go well, good. If not…” Tunisia Elections: at […]

Benedict Koehler writes that the khulifah rashidun, the first caliphs, promoted innovative and dynamic economies. Would-be pretenders who wish to bear their mantle ought to keep in mind that the benefits from enlarged markets are far greater than those from rapine and intolerance”: Caliphs and Capitalism (Institute of Economic Affairs) Canada  “fears that the country is suffering […]

“Muslims are already under the microscope, and to do this just to gain some cheap publicity is totally unacceptable. There should be no attempt to justify it; they should just apologize and ask people to forgive them for their irresponsible actions” – CAIR spokesman,  Ibrahim Hooper: Muslim Vloggers Come Clean About Staged Stop-And-Frisk Video (Huffington Post) “The […]

“Boko Haram has not confirmed the truce and there have been at least five attacks since – blamed by security sources on the insurgents – that have killed dozens.” Further,  there are “doubts about the credentials of the reported Boko Haram negotiator …, who was unheard of before”: Nigerians Doubtful of Girls’ Release After Boko […]

“‘One of the things that Obama wanted to know was: Did this ever work?’ said one former senior administration official who participated in the debate and spoke anonymously because he was discussing a classified report. The C.I.A. report, he said, ‘was pretty dour in its conclusions’”: C.I.A. Study of Covert Aid Fueled Skepticism About Helping […]

The Saudi sentence of “dissident Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr to death … for leading demonstrations and ‘inciting sectarian strife’” and death sentences against “at least 5 other Shiite activists … illustrates a problem for the US strategy for taking on the so-called Islamic State in Iraq”: America’s Saudi Problem in Its Anti-IS coalition (Christian […]