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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

Obama Refers to U.S. Armed Forces as ‘My Military’

"In case you missed it, President Obama referred to the United States armed forces as 'my military' during a statement to the media regarding the Syrian crisis Friday. 'But as I’ve already said,' Obama noted, 'I have had my military and our team look at a wide range of options.' And Twitter users went and got themselves into a bit of a twist. What do you think? Innocent semantics, a slip of the tongue…or something else?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Refers to U.S. Armed Forces as ‘My Military’

Gorbachev warns of Syrian intervention risks

"Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said in Geneva on Monday that US President Barack Obama was right to seek backing from Congress for military action in Syria, but he warned that intervening raised dire risks. 'If he's not decisive enough in shooting and bombing, I think it's a good kind of indecisiveness,' Gorbachev told a conference of Green Cross International, a peace and environmental organisation he founded in 1993, two years after his Kremlin ouster. 'If, however, they decide to shoot without regard for the opinion of the people everywhere, including the United States, then I think the consequences could be very bad,' he warned." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGorbachev warns of Syrian intervention risks

Saudi princess snaps up luxurious Geneva estate for $62 million

"Princess Latifa Bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is 54 and a daughter of former king Fahd, bought the 18,800-square-metre (202,362-square-foot) estate from the wealthy Nordmann family that co-owns upscale department store chain Manor and the maker of Lacoste clothing. The purchase price for the property is the second-highest on record in the city. The villa on the estate, known as Hauterive, is protected along with other properties overlooking Lake Geneva. Al Saud joins a number of other Saudi royals who already live in luxurious settings in the canton of Geneva." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaudi princess snaps up luxurious Geneva estate for $62 million

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

Syria strike could bring Raytheon payday

"A U.S. attack on Syria could translate into big bucks for defense giant Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawk cruise missile that’s said to be President Barack Obama’s weapon of choice. Reports that the White House is planning an attack to punish Damascus for the use of chemical weapons sent Raytheon’s stock price to a 52-week high this week — and have reawakened grumblings in Congress that the military doesn’t buy enough Tomahawks. Raytheon has delivered 252 missiles this fiscal year and 361 last fiscal year. And any Tomahawks fired at Syria would almost certainly represent a future increase in orders for the missiles, which can go for about $1 million apiece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria strike could bring Raytheon payday

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

California hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners

"Jail officials in California have been given permission to force-feed hunger strikers who are entering their seventh week of a statewide protest against prison conditions. The order strikes out directives recently signed by some prisoners that they be allowed to die. US District Court Judge Thelton E Henderson ruled that California prison doctors may force-feed selected inmates who are near death, even if they had previously signed orders asking not to be resuscitated. About 136 California inmates are taking part in a hunger strike that began on 8 July demanding an end to a policy of housing inmates believed to be associated with gangs in near-isolation for years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners