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Review: Iranian Film "About Elly" -- A Middle Class Enjoying Itself Is Engulfed In Change

Stephen Holden The New York Times
Director Ashgar Farhadi achieved international recognition with the complex and brilliant film A Separation. About Elly was made earlier, won Best Picture at Tribeca in 2009, and has taken six years to work its way back to the U.S. If possible, and now in the midst of the nuclear deal, this devastating film is better and more relevant. Farhadi depicts the strains between strict Islamic traditions and modernism within Iran's affluent, sophisticated middle classss.

The Debt Owed to Eduardo Galeano

Dave Zirin The Nation
He writes, “I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’ And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.” That’s Galeano: he made you believe it was not only possible to be both an internationalist and fan, but also a necessity if you hope to have your feet planted in this world with your mind on the next.

How Hillary Clinton's State Department Sold Fracking to the World

Mariah Blake Mother Jones
Under Clinton's leadership, the State Department worked closely with energy companies to spread fracking around the globe—part of a broader push to fight climate change, boost global energy supply, and undercut the power of adversaries such as Russia. And according to interviews, diplomatic cables, and other documents obtained by Mother Jones, American officials—some with deep ties to industry—also helped US firms clinch potentially lucrative shale concessions overseas.

Cuba’s Coming Out Party at the Summit of the Americas

Medea Benjamin CounterPunch
Cuba was welcomed and thanked by several of the leaders for the help Cuba has given other countries, but what most Americans fail to understand is the pride felt by so many people in Latin America—even people who don’t like Cuba’s policies—that for over 50 years the tiny island has managed to fend off the attempts by the US Goliath to overthrow it.

In N.C., Populist Mobilization Buoys Democrat Kay Hagan

By Katrina vanden Heuvel The Washington Post
Hagan presents herself as above the fray, but she is propelled by a populist mobilization that will help get out the vote, despite the voting changes and despite the off-year malaise afflicting voters generally and Democratic voters particularly.

CIA Finally Admits that Arming Rebels Does Not Work

By Joshua Keating Slate
In the context of the Cold War, there’s an argument to be made that this strategy worked—the Soviet Union collapsed, after all—but in the actual conflicts, the outcomes were ambiguous and the wars longer and bloodier than they might have been otherwise. (Angola’s civil war lasted 27 years.)

The Making of Ferguson

By Richard Rothstein The American Prospect
Long before the shooting of Michael Brown, official racial-isolation policies primed Ferguson for this summer’s events.