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UN: Iraq violence could lead to civil war

"The level of violence reached its lowest level in 2011, with 2,771 people killed, according to UN figures. But it is once again on the rise, fuelled by widespread Sunni discontent with the Shiite-led government, and fanned by the civil war in neighbouring Syria. 'A lot of the radical groups are getting oxygen from what is going on there,' Motta said of Syria. 'The more people die (in Iraq), the greater the chance of counter-reaction and the greater chance it has to spiral out of control,' he said. 'If the casualties keep going at this rate it will be well over 5,000 at the end of the year, so we’re looking back at figures of 2008,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN: Iraq violence could lead to civil war

Accelerate a Complete Withdrawal From Afghanistan

"Isn’t it shocking that Obama has threatened to change American policy just because Karzai is being difficult? Should a policy that allegedly has fulfilled US vital security interests be drastically altered because of mere personal animosity? Yet we have been down this erratic policy road before. The Obama administration argued that keeping a residual postwar US military force in Iraq was vitally necessary, only to nix a settlement when the Iraqi government refused to exempt US soldiers from Iraqi law in the event they committed crimes—a rather imperial request to say the least. We can thus surmise that perhaps such residual occupation forces were never very vital to US security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAccelerate a Complete Withdrawal From Afghanistan

A brand-new $34 million U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.

"The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters building on the dusty moonscape of southwestern Afghanistan that comes with all the tools to wage a modern war. A vast operations center with tiered seating. A briefing theater. Spacious offices. Fancy chairs. Powerful air conditioning. Everything, that is, except troops. The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. As American troops pack up to return home, U.S.-funded contractors are placing the finishing touches on projects that are no longer required or pulling the plug after investing millions of dollars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA brand-new $34 million U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.

The Myth of the Efficent Government Organized First Responders

"As critically injured passengers lay on the tarmac near the wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, other passengers pleaded with emergency dispatchers to send ambulances to help the victims, according to 911 tapes released Wednesday.[...] 'There are no ambulances here. We've been on the ground 20 minutes,' one woman said on the tape, which was obtained by NBC Bay Area. 'There are people laying on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries,' the woman continued. 'We're almost losing a woman here. We're trying to keep her alive.' Another female passenger told a dispatcher that there were not enough medics to treat the injured." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Myth of the Efficent Government Organized First Responders

Biden urges end to hacking, human rights abuses by China

"'We both will benefit from an open, secure, reliable Internet. Outright cyber-enabling theft that US companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop,' Biden said. A recent US study said that corporate America was losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year through a vast, organized hacking campaign to steal US trade, government and military secrets. Biden also raised concerns about human rights, days after Chinese troops reportedly opened fire on Tibetans celebrating the birthday of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBiden urges end to hacking, human rights abuses by China

Parched Jordan to start pumping radium-laced water from 300,000-year-old aquifer

"The water ministry says Jordan, where 92 percent of the land is desert, will need 1.6 billion cubic metres of water a year to meet its requirements by 2015, while the population of 6.8 million is growing by almost 3.5 percent a year. Officials say the project has required 250,000 tonnes of steel and the digging of 55 wells to pump water from Disi to Amman, where the per capita daily consumption [is 42 gallons]. A 2008 study by Duke University, in the United States, shows that Disi’s water has 20 times more radiation than is considered safe, with radium content that could trigger cancers. But the government has brushed aside those concerns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParched Jordan to start pumping radium-laced water from 300,000-year-old aquifer

India’s poor ‘duped’ into clinical trials for untested drugs

"Many desperate and poor people in India are unwittingly taking part in clinical trials for drugs by Indian and multinational pharmaceutical companies that outsource the work to unregulated research organisations. Testing pharmaceuticals on humans is a mandatory and expensive step for drug companies who must prove to regulatory authorities that treatments have no dangerous side-effects in order to bring them to market. The Confederation of Indian Industry estimates that companies save up to 60 percent by undertaking the different phases of testing a new drug in India as compared to developed countries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia’s poor ‘duped’ into clinical trials for untested drugs

Justice Achieved: Coffee Mug Threat Is Halted by State Attorneys General.

"See this mug? Well, you won’t see it again. Even the thought of a coffee mug like this sends chills down the spines of state Attorneys General around America. They are ever on the alert to stop crime in its tracks. So, 22 of them joined together to send a letter to the company that manufactures this mug. Stop it, they said. Stop it right now. For the sake of humanity, cease and desist. So, the company stopped it. If we did not have socially alert Attorney Generals, elected by the voters, who are in charge of billions of dollars of legal talent, this nation would degenerate into a lawless cacophony of coffee mugs, glasses, coasters, and drink holders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustice Achieved: Coffee Mug Threat Is Halted by State Attorneys General.

Louisiana Drug Lifer Struggles For Freedom… Someday

"So what did Butler do to get life in 'the Alacatraz of the South'? Possession of small amounts of marijuana and crack cocaine found on him after police stopped and frisked him as he rode away from them on his bicycle. Last October 3, it appeared it had. On that date, the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, ruling that New Orleans police officers 'illegally searched Butler and seized his drugs without probable cause.' The state Supreme Court then upheld the original life-without-parole sentence -- because he had ridden his bicycle on a sidewalk as he rode away from police!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLouisiana Drug Lifer Struggles For Freedom… Someday

Cat caught smuggling banned cell phones into Russian prison

"The Russian prison service said Monday it had caught a cat being used as a courier to smuggle banned cell phones and chargers into a prison camp in the country’s remote far north. The prison service in the Komi region said on its website that the cat was detained Friday evening as it climbed the fence of the region’s Number One corrective labour camp with two cell phones, batteries and chargers strapped to its back using tape. It posted a photograph of the black-and-white cat held up by the scruff of its neck by a guard with the bulky package still stuck to its fur." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCat caught smuggling banned cell phones into Russian prison