Mainstream News

Colorado Sheriff: ‘Should Be Able To Fire Representatives Who Ignore Constituents’

"When Breitbart News asked Maketa what he thought of the recall efforts, he said: 'I firmly believe that if voters think their representatives are not representing their views fairly, then they ought to be able to fire them.' 'Constituents should be able to fire representatives who ignore constituents,' Maketa stated. 'Voters think the two senators currently being recalled dismissed their opinions--literally said they did not want to hear from them--and when a representative shows that kind of arrogance, that kind of tyranny, the people ought to be able to fire them.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingColorado Sheriff: ‘Should Be Able To Fire Representatives Who Ignore Constituents’

Amash: Syria strike supporters ‘might as well start cleaning out your office’

"Federal lawmakers who plan to vote in favor of a U.S. military strike against Syria 'might as well start cleaning out' their office, U.S. Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday. Amash, R-Cascade Township, tweeted that the 'unprecedented level of public opposition' to military intervention in the country should beg for dissenting votes. Amash garnered national attention for hosting 11 town hall meetings this week to gauge opinion on President Barack Obama's request for Congress to approve a Syria strike. The sophomore lawmaker, whose mother was born in Syria, estimated 95 percent of those who turned out at meetings throughout his district were opposed to intervention." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmash: Syria strike supporters ‘might as well start cleaning out your office’

Iran’s foreign minister condemns Holocaust on Facebook

"'We condemn the massacre of Jews by the Nazis, and we condemn the massacre of Palestinians by the Zionists,' Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Facebook page, where he published the text of an interview he gave to the Tasnim news agency. [On Twitter, Zarif said]: 'Iran never denied it (the Holocaust). The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year.' The controversial Ahmadinejad was succeeded as president by Hassan Rowhani, who won a surprise election victory over five conservatives on June 14." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran’s foreign minister condemns Holocaust on Facebook

Iranian Military Chief: ‘We Will Support Syria To The End’

"Iran will support Syria 'until the end' in the face of possible US-led military strikes, the chief of Iran's elite Quds Force unit was quoted Thursday by the media as saying. Iran is Syria's main regional ally and some analysts believe a wider goal of US President Barack Obama's determination to launch a strike against the Damascus regime is to blunt Tehran's growing regional influence and any consequent threat to Washington ally Israel. President Hassan Rowhani said Iran will do 'everything to prevent' an attack on the Syrian regime, according to extracts from statements he made before the Assembly of Experts published in the media." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIranian Military Chief: ‘We Will Support Syria To The End’

Official: Potential Syria strikes could include long-range bombers

"Aircraft including long-range bombers may be used in any eventual strike on Syria, but 'that does not fundamentally change the parameters of the mission,' a U.S. official said. The official was responding to a report from ABC News' Jonathan Karl that said the U.S. attack plan for Syria could potentially include missiles fired from B-2 and B-52 bombers flying from the United States. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has reported that the Pentagon was preparing to employ greater firepower to reach shifting military targets. The revised options under development include the use of Air Force bombers to supplement U.S. destroyers in the Mediterranean, the newspaper said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Potential Syria strikes could include long-range bombers

Report: Assad agreed to quit on own conditions, US refused

"An Iraqi official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal that Syrian President Bashar Assad agreed to step down from power on his own conditions. Acording to the report, Assad's conditions were that elections were to be held almost immediately and that he would be immune from any international legal prosecution. Nonetheless, the report claimed that the US refused." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: Assad agreed to quit on own conditions, US refused

Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

"As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. Across much of Syria, where rebels with Western support live and fight, areas outside of government influence have evolved into a complex guerrilla and criminal landscape. That has raised the prospect that American military action could inadvertently strengthen Islamic extremists and criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

If Congress says no, can Obama strike Syria?

"Initiating airstrikes in Syria would undermine rather than uphold the credibility of the UN Charter, which generally permits the use of non-defensive force only with Security Council authorization. That has not been granted. The charter’s purpose is in fact to prevent individual states from engaging in the sort of international policing the US is proposing to undertake in Syria. Ultimately, it isn’t clear where the administration could turn for legal justification in the event of a no vote in Congress. Even without a strong legal foundation, if the administration decides to proceed with airstrikes, there isn’t much Congress could do to stop it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIf Congress says no, can Obama strike Syria?

MSNBC’s Alex Wagner vs. Ron Paul On Syria, Liberty, Anti-Semitism

"Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) joins Alex Wagner to give his take on the situation in Syria, how Obama has handled the situation, and why he thinks the 'grand deception' of the Syria debate is that this is a question of national security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMSNBC’s Alex Wagner vs. Ron Paul On Syria, Liberty, Anti-Semitism

Ecuador seeks to extend libel penalties to cover social media

"The Ecuadoran government has proposed legal changes to punish libel disseminated over social networks like Twitter or Facebook, a top official said Wednesday. Alexis Mera, President Rafael Correa’s secretary for legal affairs, said the move aimed not to control content on social networks, but to extend to them the same rules that apply to other media. Under Ecuador’s penal code, slanderous libel, which involves a false accusation of a crime, carries a punishment of between six months and two years in prison. Correa has used the courts to sue for libel newspapers and journalists who have written critically about him." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEcuador seeks to extend libel penalties to cover social media