Alternative News

State Department self-censors criticism of Eritrean diaspora tax in Human Rights Report

"With the release of the 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices yesterday, it seems the U.S. State Department has finally realised its hypocrisy in condemning Eritrea for imposing tax on the Eritrean diaspora to fund wars in Africa, while aiding the IRS to impose tax on the American diaspora so that the US can also fund wars in Africa, and the Middle East, and Central Asia, and … Unfortunately, State’s response has not been to levy similar criticisms against the IRS or to stop cooperating with it, but instead to tone down their criticisms of Eritrea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState Department self-censors criticism of Eritrean diaspora tax in Human Rights Report

Overcharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

"Of the 50 states in the United States, 29 of them have state laws mandating renewable energy programs for local power generation plants. The trouble is, these alternative fuels are expensive. Natural gas costs have fallen by 70% since 2005. Fracking has made the difference. New supplies have lowered natural gas prices. This means that the 29 states are prohibited from buying low-cost, clean-burning natural gas. This raises the cost of electricity. In only 16 of these states have state legislators begun to discuss the possibility that these laws are economically foolish." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOvercharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

U.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

"Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws. The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors' Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

3D-Printed Handgun Prompts Congressman To Propose Impotent Legislation

"After Forbes's Andy Greenberg broke the news that Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed have successfully created a (apparently) working gun with a 3D printer, Rep. Steve Israel, who has been warning of doom, doom!, should this day come, quickly issued a press release calling for new laws to head off the menace of DIY weaponry. Israel's objection is, allegedly, that Wilson's 3D-printed gun is made of ABS plastic, and therefore invisible to metal detectors (Wilson built a hunk of metal into his gun to address this concern, but it could easily be left out)." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3D-Printed Handgun Prompts Congressman To Propose Impotent Legislation

Oregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

"Panic erupted on Friday at Pine Eagle Charter school in rural Oregon when two masked men carrying handguns burst into a teachers’ lounge and opened fire. After the initial chaos, the terrified teachers realized the guns were firing blanks and that they were the subject of an unannounced shooter drill. The little school in Halfway, Oregon was having an in-service day, so the children were at home at the time of the drill. The terrifying action has drawn criticism from many but Principal Cammie DeCastro has defended it, saying, 'For us not to know how we were going to respond is leaving us open'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

Non-Muslims Carried Out More than 90% of All Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil

"Based on our review of the approximately 2,400 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil contained within the START database, we determined that approximately 60 were carried out by Muslims. In other words, approximately 2.5% of all terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1970 and 2012 were carried out by Muslims.* This is a tiny proportion of all attacks. We determined that approximately 118 of the terror attacks – or 4.9% – were carried out by Jewish groups such as Jewish Armed Resistance, the Jewish Defense League, Jewish Action Movement, United Jewish Underground and Thunder of Zion. This is almost twice the percentage of Islamic attacks within the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNon-Muslims Carried Out More than 90% of All Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil

Chinese Soldiers March Into Indian Territory, Pitch Tents, Declare Land For China

"An equally plausible explanation is that ambiguity and an unwillingness to retreat was the cause of all the fuss. Troops from both the Chinese and Indian militaries cross the unmarked border on a regular basis, sometimes unaware of having done so. 'This sort of situation happens easily because the two sides have different understandings of the Line of Actual Control,' said Zhang Li, a professor at Sichuan University. Indian politicians disagree, saying that Chinese troops deliberately crossed into Indian territory and have since refused to leave. The government has promised to defend Indian interests, while opposition parties accuse it of cowardice and inaction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese Soldiers March Into Indian Territory, Pitch Tents, Declare Land For China

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