Gunman dead after killing 4 at heavily secured Washington Naval Yard

"A heavily armed gunman opened fire at the Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C., Monday morning killing four people and shooting as many as 12, a senior Naval official told NBC News. Washington police swat teams cornered at least one of the shooters, who they said was carrying an AR-15, double barrel shotgun, and a handgun in the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building. At least one officer had been shot in both legs at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, NBC News reported. The building has heavy security and requires a government I.D. to enter." Continue reading

Continue ReadingGunman dead after killing 4 at heavily secured Washington Naval Yard

U.S. was ‘hair’s breadth’ from detonating nuclear bomb over North Carolina

"Days after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, the American military came within a 'hair’s breadth' of detonating a nuclear explosion over North Carolina. A pair of Mark 29 hydrogen bombs — each of which was 250 times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima — were accidentally deployed when the B-52 hauling them went into an uncontrolled spin. One of them fell to the ground unarmed, but the failsafe mechanisms in the other underwent a cascade of failure. Had the bomb exploded, the lethal fallout would have spread across the Eastern Seaboard, blanketing New York and Washington D.C." Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. was ‘hair’s breadth’ from detonating nuclear bomb over North Carolina

French navy intercepts Syrian ship carrying 20 tons of marijuana

"The French navy said Thursday it had made a record cannabis seizure in the Mediterranean sea after intercepting a ship carrying 20 tonnes of cannabis worth up to 50 million euros. 'To the best of our knowledge it is the biggest seizure by the French state in the Mediterranean,' vice-admiral Yves Joly told a news conference in Toulon. The market value of the cannabis was 'between 40 and 50 million euros ($53 and 66 million),' said regional customs head Hugues-Lionel Galy. The eight-member crew, who claimed to be Syrians, set the cannabis on fire and a part of the clandestine cargo was destroyed. The men will be tried in France and could face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFrench navy intercepts Syrian ship carrying 20 tons of marijuana

The Proof Is In the Putin

"The punditocracy is shouting almost in unison that Russia and Syria have pulled one over us. The US, they say, has been weakened because someone halted the momentum of the American war juggernaut. You see, the pundits and the pols cannot perceive of greatness outside the state because they are part of the state apparatus; and depend on it for status and income. Think about it. Who benefits when America goes to war? Not you. Not ordinary Americans. Those who benefit “function within the nimbus of great power” in D.C. and around it—the media-military-congressional-industrial complex." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe Proof Is In the Putin

Obama on Iran: Diplomacy can work when backed with military threats

"Barack Obama has revealed an exchange of letters with Iran’s new President Hassan Rowhani but warned his reluctance to strike Syria should not devalue US threats of force to thwart an Iranian nuclear bomb. The US president, in an interview aired Sunday, publicly confirmed the outreach to Rowhani for the first time, and said he believed the Syria chemical arms drama showed that diplomacy could work if backed by threats of military action. In his interview, Obama said that the outcome of the Syrian deal offered Iran a 'lesson' in the benefits of diplomacy." Continue reading

Continue ReadingObama on Iran: Diplomacy can work when backed with military threats

Pat Buchanan: Putin ‘Made A Better Case’ Than Obama On Syria

"Conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan says Vladimir Putin's op-ed in the New York Times is an 'outstanding piece' that 'made a better case against U.S. strikes in Syria' than President Obama has done in arguing for U.S. strikes." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPat Buchanan: Putin ‘Made A Better Case’ Than Obama On Syria

The People Say No To War

"What happened? The people happened. Public-opinion polls showed at once that most of us do not want Obama to commit an act of war against Syria. Furthermore, the people inundated Congress with calls and emails. Because of this (and in some cases personal conviction), most members of Congress also do not want war with Syria. Obama got the message: he was heading for sure defeat in the House of Representatives and perhaps in the Senate. He couldn’t bear the prospect of rebuff. Russian president Vladimir Putin gave him a graceful way out. Because the people didn’t want war, when a possible diplomatic solution arose, Obama had to go for it. The people gave him no choice." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe People Say No To War

Jews say no to AIPAC and say no to bombing Syria

"We are appalled that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is sending hundreds of people to lobby Congress to approve a resolution to bomb Syria. The media also reports that Sheldon Adelson and the Republican Jewish Coalition are pushing hard for war. We don’t want it to be known that Jews stood silent as the powerful Israel lobby helped push the U.S. into a war in defiance of international law and American public opinion. The Israeli government should stop pointing the finger and admit its own abuses of chemicals. It used white phosphorus in its terrible 2008 attack on Gaza. Over the years it has used tear gas recklessly and killed and sickened many, many Palestinians." Continue reading

Continue ReadingJews say no to AIPAC and say no to bombing Syria

Ron Paul Questions The Double-Dealing Empire

"How can the U.S. be both fighting Al Qaeda, and at the same time aiding them to overthrow Assad in Syria? Well, this isn't the first time that Ron Paul has posed this type of question. Let's rewind back to 1983, when the bogeyman was The Soviet Union. Here's Ron Paul speaking on the House floor, asking an almost identical question: 'Why are we engaged in military action against the Communists in which American lives are being lost when we cannot take the simple action of cutting off the flow of money to the Communists? For decades we have pursued this immoral course of action, asking American men to die fighting an enemy the American government has financed.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingRon Paul Questions The Double-Dealing Empire

Obama admin. sends guns to Syria…without background checks

"Have these rebels, who reportedly have ties to terrorist groups, gone through background checks? Does this transfer of light weapons and munitions to Syrian rebels go against the grain of the United Nations’ Small Arms Trade Treaty, which the president has said he supports and would sign? There have been allegations that the Syrian rebels have strong connections to al Qaeda, the same organization that claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and has been linked to last year’s Benghazi attack, and we’re giving these people weapons? Does it seem that the president is [little] concerned about putting guns in the hands of people whose idea of justice is public execution?" Continue reading

Continue ReadingObama admin. sends guns to Syria…without background checks