John Kerry: Syria war no time for ‘armchair isolationism’

"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the debate about military strikes is not about President Barack Obama's 'red line,' but the world's. The UN refugee agency reported Tuesday the number of refugees fleeing Syria's violence has surpassed the two million mark. Kerry told Congress that it is 'a red line that anyone with a conscience ought to draw.' Some lawmakers have expressed reluctance about being drawn into a larger conflict. But Kerry stressed that what Obama is seeking would be military action limited in scope and duration that would send a message to the Assad regime that it can't get away with using chemical weapons." Continue reading

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry: Syria war no time for ‘armchair isolationism’

‘Surgical Strikes’ an Orwellian Dream

"Imagine for a moment that you live in the nation’s capitol, by the Pentagon or minutes away in Quantico, the Marine Corps headquarters, or one exit down the parkway from the National Security Agency (NSA) in nearby Maryland. Imagine farther out, places where our Navy fleets are stationed – Norfolk, San Diego – or the main Air Force satellite control center in Colorado Springs. Any military installation across the country. Now imagine what it would be like to hear over radio waves and on your television set that one of those places might be bombed as punishment for something your president did." Continue reading

Continue Reading‘Surgical Strikes’ an Orwellian Dream

US Finally Admits What Ron Paul Said: “Nobody Knows Who Set Off The Gas”

"The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no 'slam dunk,' with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say. [..] an intercept of Syrian military officials discussing the strike was among low-level staff, the officials said. Another possibility that officials would hope to rule out: that stocks had fallen out of the government's control and were deployed by rebels in a callous and calculated attempt to draw the West into the war." Continue reading

Continue ReadingUS Finally Admits What Ron Paul Said: “Nobody Knows Who Set Off The Gas”

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

Fukushima leak is ‘much worse than we were led to believe’

"They are worried about the enormous quantities of water, used to cool the reactor cores, which are now being stored on site. Some 1,000 tanks have been built to hold the water. But these are believed to be at around 85% of their capacity and every day an extra 400 tonnes of water are being added. 'The quantities of water they are dealing with are absolutely gigantic,' said Mycle Schneider, who has consulted widely for a variety of organisations and countries on nuclear issues. 'What is the worse is the water leakage everywhere else - not just from the tanks. It is leaking out from the basements, it is leaking out from the cracks all over the place. Nobody can measure that.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingFukushima leak is ‘much worse than we were led to believe’

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

Blair likens Saddam to Hitler [2003]

"Comparing Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he would be pushing for Iraq's disarmament 'irrespective of the position of America.' Many have accused Blair of behaving like U.S. President George W. Bush's lapdog. But Blair rejected suggestions that he had been dragged into confrontation with Iraq by Bush, insisting that he had raised concerns about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction at his first meeting with the U.S. president, before the September 11 terror attacks. Britain, Spain and the United States are co-sponsoring a new U.N. resolution that could trigger war against Iraq. France, Russia, China are pushing to give U.N. weapons inspections more time." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBlair likens Saddam to Hitler [2003]

John Kerry: Assad is the new Hitler because of chem. weapon use

"Secretary of State John Kerry today compared Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein as he said new lab tests proved that deadly sarin nerve gas was used to kill nearly 1,500 civilians last month. 'Bashar al-Assad now joins a list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein who have used these weapons in time of war,' Kerry told NBC's 'Face the Nation.' Kerry called the murderous attack an 'affront against the decency and sensibilities of the world.' 'So this case is building and this case will build.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry: Assad is the new Hitler because of chem. weapon use

A Bad Argument for Bombing Syria

"Obama said: 'When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time their control of chemical weapons may erode, where they’re allied to known terrorist organizations, that in the past have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility in which chemical weapons, that can have devastating effects, could be directed at us and we want to make sure that that does not happen.' He proposes military measures to punish the Assad regime for its alleged use of nerve gas. But that would not in the slightest reduce terrorist acquisition of parts or all of the Syrian government’s stock of nerve gas." Continue reading

Continue ReadingA Bad Argument for Bombing Syria