Network Archives

Pentagon linked to Iraqi torture centers by Central American ‘dirty war’ veteran

"The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the 'dirty wars' in Central America, Colonel James Steele, to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq, that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country’s descent into full-scale civil war. A second special advisor, retired Colonel James H Coffman (now 59) worked alongside Steele in detention centres that were set up with millions of dollars of US funding." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon linked to Iraqi torture centers by Central American ‘dirty war’ veteran

Think New York Is Costly? In New Delhi, Seedy Goes for 8 Figures

"Real estate prices in the heart of New Delhi, especially for the bungalows built nearly a century ago during the British Raj, are among the highest in the world. The obvious question about the prices, in a country where hundreds of millions of people still live on less than $2 a day, is: Why? To a large degree, India is experiencing the sort of real estate boom common to big, emerging economies. When Japan’s economy was soaring in the 1980s, prices in Tokyo were so frothy that the 845-acre compound of the Imperial Palace was valued at more than all the real estate in California. More recently, China has seen a boom, with values rising in some cities by 500 percent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThink New York Is Costly? In New Delhi, Seedy Goes for 8 Figures

Egyptian Austerity Seen as Inflation Goes Up Hard

"Egypt's policy, apparently, is to engineer a controlled devaluation and hope that the IMF will come to the rescue. In the meantime, Egypt's reserves are being depleted and a surge in oil or commodity prices would put the bank and the country as a whole deeper into insolvency. It is regularly taught that only enlightened central bank monetary control can lift nations out of financial crises but as the 21st century dawns, it increasingly seems that the reverse is true. Central banks fix the price of money and price-fixing inevitably fails. As a result, most central banks lurch from one crisis to another, participating first in sustained booms and then terrible busts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgyptian Austerity Seen as Inflation Goes Up Hard

‘Cannibal cop’ says torturing and eating women nothing more than his fantasy

"Prosecutors wrapped up their case on Monday, saying Valle should be found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap women that he discussed abducting and eating. They showed the Manhattan federal jury gruesome pictures downloaded onto Valle’s computers, including women apparently being burned. It was not always clear when a picture had been staged or not. Lawyers for Valle, who faces up to life in prison if found guilty on the kidnapping conspiracy charge, hope to persuade the jury that he is guilty of nothing more than unusual sexual fantasies." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Cannibal cop’ says torturing and eating women nothing more than his fantasy

High School Student Disarms Gunman…Gets Suspended

"The 16-year-old Cypress Lake High student in Fort Myers, Fla. told WFTX-TV there was 'no doubt' he saved a life after grappling for the loaded .22 caliber revolver being aimed point-blank at another student on Tuesday. Authorities confirmed to WFTX the weapon was indeed loaded, and the arrest report stated the suspect, identified by WVZN-TV as Quadryle Davis, was 'pointing the gun directly' at the other student and 'threatening to shoot him.' That’s when, the teen told the station, he and two others tackled the suspect and wrestled the gun away. The next day, all three were suspended." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHigh School Student Disarms Gunman…Gets Suspended

Air National Guard Member In Fatigues Spurs Michigan School Lockdown

"The man, who was not identified in reports, was apparently looking for the school guidance counselor sometime around 6AM to obtain a letter of recommendation, but an overnight custodian spotted him wandering the halls and called police on account of the man’s 'suspicious' nature. The call sparked an evacuation, a school lockdown and an investigation, although the man had already left the school. 'The school was placed on lockdown and buses filled with students were forced to wait at a nearby grocery store parking while police conducted their investigation,' My Fox Detroit reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAir National Guard Member In Fatigues Spurs Michigan School Lockdown

School Offers Counseling for Students Troubled by Pastry-Gun Incident

"if your children are 'troubled' by another kid biting a pastry into something that looks sort of like a gun and waving said pastry around, you have already failed as a parent. The two-day suspension indicates that the school considered this a 'Level 3' violation, but exactly what part of the Code was in play is not clear. The letter suggests Josh disrupted the class, but the reference to 'inappropriate gestures' involving food can only mean he was also charged with a pastry-based-weapons violation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchool Offers Counseling for Students Troubled by Pastry-Gun Incident

Children ‘Traumatized and Re-Traumatized by Drones’ in Yemen

"A report from a clinical and forensic psychologist just back from Yemen offers a disturbing picture of the horror drones have inflicted on children, who are 'traumatized and re-traumatized' by the strikes whose use 'amounts to a form of psychological torture and collective punishment.' The findings come from clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Peter Schaapveld, who presented his evidence of a 'psychological emergency' in the country as a result of drone strikes, and of the particularly heavy toll they have on the mental health of children, plagued with PTSD as the mental anguish from the deadly strikes last long after the sound of the unmanned aircraft above." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChildren ‘Traumatized and Re-Traumatized by Drones’ in Yemen

Sen. Rand Paul Filibustering John Brennan CIA Nomination Over Domestic Drones

"Attorney General Holder stated in a letter to Sen. Paul dated March 4, 2013: 'It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States.' 'The U.S. Attorney General's refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening - it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,' Sen. Paul said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSen. Rand Paul Filibustering John Brennan CIA Nomination Over Domestic Drones