What We Read Today 30 June 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

• ISIS Declares Themselves an Islamic State (NBC News) A new caliphate has been declared as The jihadist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) has announced they are now simply the “Islamic State”. By dropping the names “Iraq” and “al-Sham” the organization has opened its potential boundaries without limit. The term al-Sham can have many meanings, but in the case of ISIS they intend it to mean the Levant, or eastern Mediterranean. See also next article.

• How WW I Helped Set the Stage for Iraq’s Troubles (NBC Nightly News)

• Will ISIS Create al-Sham Caliphate & Liberate Palestine? (Franklin Lamb, CounterPunch)

… it is unlikely that Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, among other countries in this region, are going to look much like what George Bush and Dick Cheney and their still active neocon advisers had in mind when they were beating the drums for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Libya, and now Syria and Iran.

• This One Word on a Syrian Mural Says All You Need to Know About ISIS Insurgents’ Ultimate Goal (Sharona Schwartz, The Blaze) The one word is “Khilafa” which is the Arabic word for “Caliphate“. And there is an associated map:

• Let’s Talk About Climate Change: Ritholtz Chart (Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg) Ritholtz provides the following generic graphic from Climate.gov. This is illustrative only and does not represent the current outlook. This is discussed weekly at GEI News by climate economist Sig Silber.

Click on map for larger image at Climate.gov.

• The Best (and Worst) States to Be Unemployed (24/7 Wall St) Lists of the ten best and ten worst states for employment, along with summary data for each. The top two for employment are North Dakota and Iowa. The worst two are Mississippi and Alabama. The top regions are the Mountain West and Great Plains. The two worst regions are the South Central and South East.

• Six foods that increase or decrease your risk of cancer (Tim Crowe, The Conversation) Three that reduce risk of cancer are fruits and vegetables, soy (for women) and dairy. The three that increase risk are revealed in the video. Advanced warning: one class of food that increases risk in one area also reduces risk in another (and is on the list above). Gives new meaning to the term ‘pick your poison’.

There are 12 articles discussed today ‘behind the wall’.

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