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Investigation to record victims of US drone attacks in Pakistan

“The objective, said TBIJ deputy editor Rachel Oldroyd, is to take these deaths out of obscurity and make it easier to test statements about the nature and use of drones. US authorities have been reluctant to acknowledge any civilian deaths caused by the drone operations, which have been going on since 2006. The CIA has claimed a high rate of killings of militants, saying that strikes since May 2010 have killed more than 600 militants but no civilians. This claim is contested by experts, journalists and researchers on the ground.” Continue reading →

Egyptian farmer arrested for naming donkey after top general

“An Egyptian farmer has been arrested for putting the name of the country’s military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and an army cap on his donkey, state media said Saturday. Omar Abu al-Magd Ali al-Saghir, 31, was arrested late on Friday in the central province of Qena for allegedly insulting the general, state news agency MENA reported. The farmer was arrested after he rode the donkey through his home village in an act deemed ‘directly insulting’ to the army, MENA said. Sisi, who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, is vice prime minister and defence minister as well as army chief.” Continue reading →

Thousands march in Edinburgh to support Scottish independence

“Thousands of people marched through the Scottish capital Edinburgh on Saturday calling for independence, a year ahead of Scotland’s historic referendum on whether to break away from the United Kingdom. The pro-independence campaign ‘Yes Scotland’ estimated that 20,000 supporters joined the march, turning the city centre into a sea of blue and white as they waved thousands of Scottish flags. Some of the men were clad in traditional Scottish kilts as they marched up Calton Hill, overlooking the city, to the sound of bagpipes. The ‘no’ campaign — backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government — claims Scotland is stronger as part of the larger United Kingdom.” Continue reading →

Somali militants claim ‘blowback’ motivation for Nairobi mall attack

“At least 39 people were killed when masked gunmen stormed an upscale Nairobi mall, Kenya’s president said on Saturday. Al Shabaab militants said the attack was retaliation for Kenya’s involvement fighting Islamists in neighbouring Somalia. Masked gunmen killed 39 people when they stormed an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address on Saturday, adding that he lost family members in the attack claimed by Somalia’s al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab rebels.
The Islamist rebels said the massacre was in direct retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists.” Continue reading →

You’re Much More Likely to Be Killed By Lightning than by a Terrorist

“The U.S. Department of State reports that only 17 U.S. citizens were killed worldwide as a result of terrorism in 2011. That figure includes deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq and all other theaters of war. Wikipedia notes that obesity is a a contributing factor in 100,000–400,000 deaths in the United States per year. That makes obesity 5,882 to times 23,528 more likely to kill you than a terrorist. The annual number of deaths in the U.S. due to avoidable medical errors is as high as 100,000. The CDC stated in 2011 that – in the majority of states – your prescription meds are more likely to kill you than any other source of injury. So your meds are thousands of times more likely to kill you than Al Qaeda.” Continue reading →

Just Say the Magic Word

“When your government starts arbitrarily seizing skyscrapers, the time to start thinking about and devising an internationalization strategy was yesterday. If you have not already started, I’d suggest that it is high time to get going. This goes double for libertarians and anyone else who could one day become the government’s next enemy du jour. All the government has to do is say the magic T-word, and poof: your rights, your assets, and even your life can be taken from you in an instant, without due process, and the vast majority of people will approve of it.” Continue reading →

French mother jailed for sending son to school in ‘I am a bomb’ shirt

“A French mother who sent her three-year-old son to school in a T-shirt reading ‘I am a bomb’ and ‘Jihad, born on September 11’ was given a suspended prison term Friday for defending crime. Bouchra Bagour said she had simply wanted to mark the birthday of her son — who is named Jihad and was born on September 11 — and had not intended any connection with the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001. On Friday, an appeal court in the southern city of Nimes fined Bagour 2,000 euros ($2,700) and giving her a suspended one-month jail term. Her brother Zeyad, who gave his nephew the T-shirt, was fined 4,000 euros and given a two-month suspended prison sentence.” Continue reading →

Beyond Civil Disobedience

“In his book, Don’t Get Mad, Get Even, George Hayduke wrote, ‘The one thing the establishment is prepared for is a violent frontal attack. They may be pure lard inside, but they’ve got twenty-four inches of armor plate in the front.’ We have to avoid attacking them the way they expect to be attacked. They expect marches, and protests, and voting, and civil disobedience, and even a violent uprising. That’s behavior they’re prepared to deal with, but there’s lard on the other side of that armor. Never attack an enemy the way they expect to be attacked. Thats the way the Lego Underground should operate.” Continue reading →