Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Guardian
World doesnt end
As Harold Campings prophecy of the world coming to an end on May 21 failed,Paul Harris writes that the non-event would have distressed followers of his Family Radio,a hitherto obscure California-based religious group,which had spent millions of dollars on a worldwide advertising campaign proclaiming May 21 as Judgment Day. Harold Camping,an 89-year-old self-styled expert in the scriptures,has done this once before: predicting wrong,that is. He said the world would end in 1994,but when that did not happen,he explained by saying he had made a mathematical error. This time8230;Camping admitted he had pretty much staked everything on his fervently held belief, writes Harris. There is no plan B, he told Reuters week. Which is a shame. As the day progressed in California on May 21 with no global mega-quake in sight,he and his followers needed one, he writes.
Slate
Its a revolution,not a protest
Referring to the arrest of Syrian writer Louay Hussein on March 22 for his Facebook postings calling for protests,Hanin Ghaddar writes,For Syrians,there is no turning back. Hussein was released a few days later,is still active on Facebook and is calling for demonstrations and voicing support for besieged cities and towns. He knows he is not safe,but that cant be helped,because for him,this is a revolution,not a protest. On his Facebook page,Hussein had written,There is difference between a demonstration and a revolution8230;This is not about making demands of the authorities,whom we do not trust. This is about changing the regime,because we dont believe it is capable of reform.
Time
Volcanic Deja Vu?
Remember Eyjafjallajokull,the volcano with the unpronounceable name that spewed ash and disrupted the world travel scene? As Icelands biggest and most active volcano,Grimsvotn,erupted on Saturday,Nick Carbone writes that it threatens to affect world travel again. Though scientists said it was much bigger and more intensive than Eyjafjallajokull,Carbone says that a combination of factors could help mitigate this. According to Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson,The ash is coarser than last years,meaning it will dissipate and fall to the ground faster.
Foreign Policy
Much ado about nothing
On Obamas Middle East speech on May 19,Kori Schake writes,Obama had three significant challengesfirstly,explain his administrations seemingly contradictory responses to uprisings in Tunisia,Egypt,Libya,Bahrain,Yemen,and Syria; second,support the forces of democratic change in the region; and thirdly,describe how to manage the conflict between our interests and our values in a region where they are often in conflict. But,Schake writes,the speech achieved none of those. Obama laid claim to a new chapter in American diplomacy,which he described as shifting our foreign policy after a decade of war. But the vision he now endorses has actually been the basis for our foreign policy in the Middle East for several administrations. He said of democracys advance that change will not be denied but isnt it being denied in Bahrain,in Syria,in Yemen,in Iran?
