by Piper Bayard | Jun 15, 2014 | Current Affairs, News
By Jay Holmes This week, world governments and the attendant media gaggles are focused on the ISIS militia that has captured much of northern and western Iraq. From popular news reports, we might get the impression that ISIS’s expanding influence is a shocking and...
by Piper Bayard | May 19, 2014 | Foreign Affairs, News
By Jay Holmes On April 14, 2014, a Boko Haram gang attacked a girls school in Chibok, Nigeria. After killing the armed guards at the school, the gang kidnapped 234 girls and possibly a dozen adult staff members. The attack captured the attention of the Western media,...
by Piper Bayard | Sep 11, 2013 | Apocalypse
image from US Navy I woke up to hear a voice on the radio saying that two planes had crashed into the twin towers. I knew instantly it was no accident, but I had no way to compute the information with my pre-9/11 mindset. Then I turned on the TV, and I knew our world...
by Piper Bayard | Aug 18, 2013 | Current Affairs, Foreign Affairs
By Jay Holmes In Cairo on the morning of August 18, the Egyptian military and police evicted protestors from the al Fath Mosque. In the chaos that has overtaken Egypt, this eviction could be dismissed as an insignificant event, but it can also be seen as an important...
by Piper Bayard | Apr 26, 2013 | Apocalypse
Three men from the United Arab Emirates were deported from Saudi Arabia for being “too handsome.” The Saudis were afraid women would see them and throw off their clothes. I know. This sounds like a joke that Holmes and I would make up. My thanks to Omar...
by Piper Bayard | Apr 3, 2013 | Current Affairs, Foreign Affairs
By Jay Holmes Things have accelerated in Syria during the last six months—“things” such as the death rate and the refugee crisis, which have increased alarmingly. Putting a number on the death toll is not easy. The various rebel forces and the Syrian government may...
by Piper Bayard | Dec 10, 2012 | Current Affairs, Foreign Affairs
By Jay Holmes When the people of Egypt ousted President Hosni Mubarak on February 12, 2011, most Western media outlets assumed that the anti-Mubarak protestors were de facto pro-democracy. However, Egyptians are not so cohesive, and they have a complex variety of...
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