postmodem

In an eight-minute video clip titled “Onward, Lions of Syria” disseminated on the Internet Feb. 12, al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri expressed al Qaeda’s support for the popular unrest in Syria. In it, al-Zawahiri urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to aid the Syrian rebels battling Damascus. The statement comes just days after a McClatchy report quoted unnamed American intelligence officials as saying that the Iraqi node of the global jihadist network carried out two attacks... Read Full Story

“ The angel of death has been abroad throughout the land; you may almost hear the beating of his wings.” – John Bright, b. 1811-89 (English Liberal politician and reformer) ‘ referring to the effects of war in the Crimea’, in the House of Commons, 23 February 1855. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press. 1996, 2001, 2006.  © Antony Jay. Index reference page. 55 : 2. “All rising to a great place is by a winding stair .”- Francis Bacon. English lawyer, courtier... Read Full Story

“The difference between burlesque and the newspapers is that the former never pretended to be performing a public service by exposure.”  - I. F. Stone. b. 1907-89. American journalist. (Words first published within I.F Stone’s Weekly, 7 September 1952) Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press. 1996, 2001, 2006.  © Antony Jay. Index reference page 382 : 1 “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” - Arthur Miller, b. 1915-2005. American dramatist. (Remark... Read Full Story

“Poor Mexico, so far from God, and so close to the United States.” – Porfirio Diaz, b. 1830-1915. (attributed) Mexican revolutionary and statesman; President of Mexico, (1877-80, 1884-1911) See:{ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/161912/Porfirio-Diaz  } Supplementary quote attributed to and published within Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press, 1996, 2001, 2006. © Antony Jay. Index reference page. 117 : 5  Mexico will hold its presidential election July 1... Read Full Story

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested last week that the United States could wrap up combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013, well before the longstanding 2014 deadline when full control is to be ceded to Kabul. Troops would remain in Afghanistan until 2014, as agreed upon at the 2010 Lisbon Summit, and would be engaged in two roles until at least 2014 and perhaps even later. One role would be continuing the training of Afghan security forces. The other would involve... Read Full Story

“Freedom of the press in Britain means freedom to print such of the proprietor’s prejudices as the advertisers don’t object to.”- Hannen Swaffer. 1879 – 1962. British journalist. ( said to Tom Driberg, 1928, Tom Driberg/Swaff (1974) (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 1996, 2001, 2006.   © Antony Jay.1996, 2001,2006. Index reference page. 384 : 3 ) “Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows.” – R. H. Tawney. 1880-1962.  British economic historian. ‘Equality’ (ed 3 1938) (Oxford... Read Full Story

“I’m glad we’ve been bombed. I make me feel I can look the East End in the face.” – Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. b. 1900 -2002 (words to a London policeman, 13 September 1940). John Wheeler-Bennet, King George VI (1958) (see:  http://www.royal.gov.uk/Home.aspx   &   http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/QueenElizabethTheQueenMother/Biography.aspx  ) (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 1996, 2001, 2006.  © Antony Jay. 1996, 2001, 2006... Read Full Story

“The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. b. 1803-82. American philosopher and poet. ‘The Conduct of Life’ , (1860). (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. 1996, 2001, 2006. © Antony Jay, 1996, 2001, 2006. Index reference page. 135 : 2) “The majority never has right on its side. Never I say! That is one of the social lies that a free, thinking man is bound to rebel against. Who makes up the majority in any given country? Is it the wise men... Read Full Story

“Let no man write my epitaph…When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till then, let my epitaph be written.” – Robert Emmet. 1778-1803. Irish Nationalist. (Speech from the dock when condemned to death, 19 September 1803. (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press 1996, 2001, 2006, © Antony Jay. Index reference page 135 : 4. “You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.” – Henrik Ibsen... Read Full Story

Mali has experienced perhaps the most significant external repercussions from the downfall of the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Stratfor has discussed the impact of the conflict in Libya on the wider region since international intervention began in March 2011. Instability in Libya due to that country’s deep internal fault lines meant that re-establishing a government would prove difficult. As we pointed out, that instability could spread to neighboring countries as weapons and... Read Full Story