Big Lie

Can You Trust the Case for War this Time?

"Emails supposedly leaked to the public by a hacker suggest that the chemical attacks in Syria were actually staged by U.S. intelligence. Is this true? We doubt it, but when you consider the whole history of U.S. wars, it's hard to argue that our 'government' deserves the benefit of the doubt. We share some of that history in a sample letter to Congress below. Public pressure has already forced the President to seek Congressional approval. Maybe more pressure could also deny that approval. Please tell Congress to oppose war in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCan You Trust the Case for War this Time?

The army pulled the trigger, but the West loaded the gun

"To focus on the actions of the security forces alone, on what they did with their trigger fingers yesterday, is to miss the bigger picture; it is to overlook the question of where the military regime got the moral authority to clamp down on its critics so violently in the name of preserving its undemocratic grip on power. It got it from the West, including from so-called Western liberals and human-rights activists. The moral ammunition for yesterday’s massacres was provided by the very politicians and campaigners now crying crocodile tears over the sight of hundreds of dead Egyptians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe army pulled the trigger, but the West loaded the gun

How to Start a War by the Bootstrap Method

"The U.S. need never again be at peace, because it has so many ways to get war going. There is now a new way to create a war. Obama has invented it. At this point in its history, the empire no longer needs to be attacked, by an actual or fabricated attack. It no longer needs to manufacture a pretext. It no longer needs to say that there is a threat of a threat. It no longer needs to suspect weapons of mass destruction. It no longer needs to point to an humanitarian concern. It no longer needs to mention national security. Obama’s method is simple. Make a threat by drawing a red line. There need be no relation of that line to any U.S. interest or to national defense or an attack on America." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to Start a War by the Bootstrap Method

Pro-Assad hackers target Marine Corps recruiting website

"Pro-Syrian regime hackers posted messages on a US Marine Corps recruiting website on Monday, urging troops to defy orders from President Barack Obama. The hackers showed photos of people in American uniforms holding hand-written signs saying they would not fight for Al-Qaeda in Syria. 'Obama is a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue al-Qaeda insurgents,' the message read, according to a screenshot from The Wall Street Journal. The US Marine Corps confirmed the intrusion but said the affected site, Marines.com, the official recruitment portal for the Corps, was back to normal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPro-Assad hackers target Marine Corps recruiting website

John Kerry: Science on climate change is ‘irrefutable and it is alarming’

"US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the evidence for climate change was beyond dispute but it was not too late for international action to prevent its worst impacts. 'The science is clear. It is irrefutable and it is alarming,' Kerry told a climate conference in Majuro in the Marshall Islands in a video address from Washington. 'If we continue down our current path, the impacts of climate change will only get worse.' Kerry said without strong, immediate action, the world would experience threats to critical infrastructure, regional stability, public health, economic vitality, and the long-term viability of some states." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry: Science on climate change is ‘irrefutable and it is alarming’

Kerry: U.S. has firm evidence sarin gas was used in Syria attack

"'Each day that goes by,' Kerry said, 'this case is getting stronger. I mean, today I'm at liberty to tell you that we now have samples back from first responders in East Damascus - those samples of hair and blood have been tested, and they have reported positive for signatures of sarin. So, we are now getting a stronger case each day. The credibility of the United States is on the line here and I believe that Congress will do the right thing.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry: U.S. has firm evidence sarin gas was used in Syria attack

On Obama’s Plan, a Message Emerges in Israel: Stay Quiet

"Israel has a powerful American lobby with bipartisan strength that could be uniquely positioned to help the White House shore up support in Congress. Yet there were no outward signs on Sunday that Israel would attempt to influence the outcome, and numerous experts on the Israel-American relationship said it would be deeply dangerous to try. 'It would be a mistake to overplay the Israeli interest,' said Itamar Rabinovich, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States and also its chief negotiator with Syria in the 1990s. 'It’s bad for Israel that the average American gets it into his or her mind that boys are again sent to war for Israel. They have to be sent to war for America.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOn Obama’s Plan, a Message Emerges in Israel: Stay Quiet

Taxpayers funding study of link between marijuana, domestic violence

"The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is granting $1.86 million to the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions to investigate the drug’s link to aggression. The study will run from 2013 to 2017 and will follow couples in which one or both partners use marijuana to determine whether its use 'results in affective, cognitive, or behavioral effects consistent with partner aggression.' NIDA has a $1.05 billion budget for 2013 and has publicly acknowledged that it does not fund research into the potential benefits of medical marijuana." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxpayers funding study of link between marijuana, domestic violence