Columnists

Dispatches from the Edge:The Guns of August in the Middle East?

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday June 29, 2010 - 12:22:00 PM

Crazy talk about the Middle East seems to be escalating, backed up by some pretty ominous military deployments. First, the department of scary statements: -more-


Senior Power: BPL, Wherefore Art Thous?

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Tuesday June 29, 2010 - 12:50:00 PM

Kudos to Peter Warfield’s Partisan Position, Monday, June 21, 2010 Planet: “Berkeley’s Branch Library Plans: Two Demolitions Instead of Renovation, Book Cuts and Permanent Changes to Zoning Variance Requirements.” -more-


Blogbeat: Civic Sustainability: Scouring the Web for interesting tidbits

By Thomas Lord
Tuesday June 29, 2010 - 01:48:00 PM

This week’s items: An online twist to OPD’s riot preparations; shootings at funerals and memorials; school bond fails in Alameda: heads up Berkeley?; a correction to last week’s column

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Dispatches From The Edge: Turkey, the U.S, and Empire’s Twilight

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday June 29, 2010 - 04:04:00 PM

When U.S. forces found themselves beset by a growing insurgency in Iraq following their lighting overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the most obvious parallel that came to mind was Vietnam: an occupying army, far from home, besieged by a shadowy foe. But Patrick Cockburn, the Independent’s (UK) ace Middle East reporter, suggested that the escalating chaos was more like the Boer War than the conflict in Southeast Asia. -more-