Network Archives

How humanitarians trumped neo-cons in Libya

"With Muammar Gaddafi dead, the hunt is on for a new hate figure on whom to spew venom; far more satisfying than actually evaluating our own role in the creation of human misery. For the governments that lead us into war, of course, it makes perfect sense that we do not stop to look back at the last invasion before impatiently demanding the next one - if we realized, for example, that the 1999 bombing of Serbia - the textbook 'humanitarian intervention'- actually facilitated the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo it was supposedly designed to prevent, we might not be so ready to demand the same treatment for every other state that falls short of our illusory ideals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow humanitarians trumped neo-cons in Libya

Pepe Escobar: The Syria-Iran red line show

"US defense contractors had the Moet flowing as Hagel merrily congregated with that prodigy of democracy - United Arab Emirates (UAE) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed - to celebrate the sale of 25 F-16 fighter jets. There's more on the way; 48 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD missile interceptors, at a cool US$1 billion. The Pentagon is sending one of its only two of such systems to Guam this month to counter that other threat - missiles from North Korea. Obama in Syria is fast becoming a remix of Reagan in 1980s Afghanistan. We all know what came out of those 'freedom fighters' afterwards." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: The Syria-Iran red line show

Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city’s airport – reports

"Strong blasts hit the outskirts of Syria’s capital early on Sunday, with reports saying that they were results of Israeli airstrikes on a military research center and Damascus Airport. Israel is thought to have carried out a similar attack days ago. Syrian TV accused Israel of the attack and of being in alignment with rebel forces. The notion was backed by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who said the attack proved that there is an alliance between Israel and Islamists trying to topple the Syrian government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsraeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city’s airport – reports

South Korean toddler gets first ever windpipe transplant

"An international team of surgeons has successfully given a South Korean-Canadian toddler a life-saving windpipe transplant made from plastic fibers and some of her own stem cells. Hannah Warren, 2, was born without a trachea and is now the youngest person to ever receive a bio-engineered organ, after an operation in the United States. She had spent her life in an intensive care unit in Seoul, with a feeding tube keeping her alive. Doctors had initially given her little chance of surviving. The nine-hour transplant was a life-saving surgery for the child, who was unable to breathe, speak, swallow, eat or drink on her own since birth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouth Korean toddler gets first ever windpipe transplant

World on the verge of a new industrial revolution: Mass 3D printing

"As potentially game-changing as the steam engine or telegraph, 3D printing could herald a new industrial revolution. The prospect of printers turning out any object you want at the click of a button may seem like the stuff of science fiction. But 3D printing is already here, is developing fast, and looks set to leap from the labs and niche industries onto the wider market. 'There are still limits imposed by the technology available today,' said Olivier Olmo, operational director of Switzerland’s EPFL research institution. 'But I’m certain that within 10 or 20 years, we’ll have a kind of revolution in terms of the technology being available to everyone.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld on the verge of a new industrial revolution: Mass 3D printing

Canada Wants to Join the Government Stupidity Contest

"Zealots in the Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Board of the French Language) may have gone a step too far in picking a fight with an Italian restaurant… After a five-month investigation into an anonymous complaint, Massimo Lecas received a letter from the board telling him that his establishment, Buonanotte, had broken the law by including the words 'pasta' on the menu and 'bottiglia', the Italian word for bottle, instead of the French word bouteille. Outraged, Lecas posted the letter for 2,500 of his Facebook friends to see. In doing so, he unleashed a political tempest over one of the most sensitive topics up for debate in the province." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanada Wants to Join the Government Stupidity Contest

New York Times Tells Truth About Syria; Neo-Cons Unfazed

"'Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.' The conclusion to this revelation is not, unfortunately, 'stop arming the non-existent secularists.' Steven Heydemann at the Orwellian war-promoting United States Institute of Peace sums up the view, as quoted in the Times story: 'The challenge, he said, is to end the conflict before the opportunity to create a system of governance not based on militant Islamic law is lost.' In other words, the United States Institute of Peace, in its appropriately post-apocalyptic mega-church looking $183 million dollar new building, urges the US to change the regime in Syria as quickly as possible!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Times Tells Truth About Syria; Neo-Cons Unfazed

Sheriff Bradshaw and the Palm Beach County Psihuska

"Although they were dealing with a sickly, unarmed homeless man who was not a criminal suspect, the Berserkers treated the incident as a combat situation. As they approached the encampment, Gaydos – who was holding his cell phone – stood up. Without a word of warning, he was shot twice in the head with rubber bullets. The first round damaged an ear; the second one destroyed his left eye. The assailants later tried to justify the head shots by claiming that they had seen a knife in Gaydos’s hand – but since no knife was ever recovered, this can be dismissed as a self-serving lie of the kind routinely offered by police officers after they kill or mutilate an innocent person." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheriff Bradshaw and the Palm Beach County Psihuska

India central bank introduces more policies to curb gold imports

"India's central bank announced more stringent measures for gold imports by banks in it's annual monetary statement. Analysts said the move is likely to impact country's gold imports this year. The central bank said banks will be allowed to import bullion on a consignment basis to meet only genuine needs of exporters of gold jewelry. RBI will issue detailed guidelines on gold imports by authorized banks by the end of this month after it sees banks also import gold on an unfixed price basis and loan basis, according to the central bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia central bank introduces more policies to curb gold imports

Chinese Way of Doing Business: In Cash We Trust

"Lugging nearly $130,000 in cash into a dealership might sound bizarre, but it’s not exactly uncommon in China, where hotel bills, jewelry purchases and even the lecture fees for visiting scholars are routinely settled with thick wads of renminbi, China’s currency. This is a country, after all, where home buyers make down payments with trunks filled with cash. And big-city law firms have been known to hire armored cars to deliver the cash needed to pay monthly salaries. Many experts say it is not a refusal to enter the 21st century as much as wariness, of the government toward its citizens and vice versa." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese Way of Doing Business: In Cash We Trust