North Korea: Is War the Inevitable Outcome?
"If we’re not going to war, we’re doing a really good imitation." Continue reading →
"If we’re not going to war, we’re doing a really good imitation." Continue reading →
"Bloomberg also debunks the 'official narrative' behind the Gulf crisis and suggests that Saudi Arabia’s isolation of Qatar, 'and the dispute’s long past and likely lingering future are best explained by natural gas.' The reasons for nat gas as the source of discord are numerous and start in 1995 'when the tiny desert peninsula was about to make its first shipment of liquid natural gas from the world’s largest reservoir. The offshore North Field, which provides virtually all of Qatar’s gas, is shared with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s hated rival.'" Continue reading →
401(k) deductions are under attack and tax advantages of inherited IRAs are being eliminated, while retirees move to Ecuador to escape outrageous expenses. Continue reading →
"Steve Cook is a prime example of a mid-twentieth century mindset trapped in an era of evolving understanding of human nature and criminal justice. The AP continues by reporting that, at the behest of Cook, the 'DOJ’s new policy encouraging harsher punishments for criminals is now turning his attention to hate crimes, marijuana and the ways law enforcement seizes suspects’ cash and property'." Continue reading →
"The 6,700 page document excoriated US torture policies after 9/11, and noted that not a single incident of a terrorist attack had been foiled because of the torture." Continue reading →
"The massive US arms deal with Saudi Arabia signed last month by President Trump is continuing to drive up arms makers’ stock, though at present the exact dollar values for specific companies are a matter of some speculation. These companies and other well-connected US arms makers are all expected to make quite a bit of money off this new arms deal with Saudi Arabia, as well as more money off of President Trump’s planned military spending increases. As the chance of peace suddenly breaking out looks more and more remote, the arms makers are expected to continue raking in money hand over fist." Continue reading →
"A British tabloid columnist faced calls for a police investigation on Tuesday after she used the term 'final solution' to describe how the country should respond to the deadly bombing in Manchester. The phrase is the well-known euphemism used by the Nazis for the genocide of the Jews. In late 2015, during the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump praised Hopkins on Twitter as a 'respected columnist' and thanked her for her 'powerful writing on the U.K.’s Muslim problems.'" Continue reading →
"The tit-for-tat row has escalated rapidly after Trump criticized major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord at back-to-back summits last week. On Monday, Merkel showed how seriously she is concerned about Washington's dependability under Trump by repeating the message she delivered a day earlier that the times when Europe could fully rely on others were 'over to a certain extent'." Continue reading →
"Trump has said he wants to encourage international weapons sales as a way to create jobs in the United States. Saudi Arabia agreed to buy $110 billion of U.S. arms, with options running as high as $350 billion over 10 years. The lawmakers aim to block about $500 million of the sale, the portion including precision-guided munitions and other offensive weapons. 'Given Saudi Arabia's past support of terror, poor human rights record, and questionable tactics in its war in Yemen, Congress must carefully consider and thoroughly debate if selling them billions of dollars of arms is in our best national security interest at this time,' Paul said in a statement." Continue reading →
"President Rodrigo Duterte made a joke about rape as he urged soldiers to use the powers of martial law to take control of a besieged city in the southern Philippines. In the speech Friday, Duterte said he will pay the consequences if any soldiers are accused of abuses. He said: 'I will go to jail for you. If you happen to have raped three women, I will own up to it.' On Tuesday, Duterte imposed 60 days of martial law in the southern Philippines as government forces battle militants in Marawi, a city of some 200,000 people. Duterte is unapologetic about his manner of speech and liberally peppers casual statements with profanities." Continue reading →