Winning Hearts & Minds

Bulgarian government resigns amid protests

"'We have dignity and honour. It is the people who put us in power and we give it back to them today,' Borisov told parliament, adding that he would not participate in an interim government. Bulgaria has been shaken over the past week by protests that initially were about soaring electricity prices but which have turned into nationwide demonstrations against the right-wing government in general. The clashes left dozens of people wounded and scores were arrested with demonstrators fighting running battles with riot police and vandalising government buildings in the capital Sofia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBulgarian government resigns amid protests

Julian Assange on Real Time With Bill Maher: NDAA Kill List

"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange weighed in on the brewing controversy surrounding the Obama administration's targeted killing program Friday night during an appearance on 'Real Time With Bill Maher.' Assange railed against the revelation, made by NBC News earlier this week, that the U.S. government reserves the right to extrajudicially kill U.S. citizens, as long as they are perceived to be 'imminent' terror threats -- with 'imminence' being given an especially broad definition." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulian Assange on Real Time With Bill Maher: NDAA Kill List

Pentagon’s New High-tech Warfare Medal Draws Backlash

"The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyberwar experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations, but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails. The new medal, announced Wednesday by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, will have precedence over — and be worn on a uniform ahead of — the Bronze Star with Valor device, awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat. It is the first new forcewide medal recognizing combat achievement since the Bronze Star was created in 1944." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon’s New High-tech Warfare Medal Draws Backlash

Deputy Reprimanded After Threat To Bash Citizen’s Skull And Feed Him To Alligators Caught On Video

"A Broward Sheriff’s deputy caught on camera unloading a torrent of obscenities and threats — including death at the hands of alligators — at a man being investigated for causing a disturbance was issued a written reprimand and allowed back on the force. The video from a patrol car of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper captures Deputy Alan Dubinski speaking to Jessie Merchant, a man with whom Dubinski has a law-enforcement related history, as Merchant was being investigated for causing a disturbance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputy Reprimanded After Threat To Bash Citizen’s Skull And Feed Him To Alligators Caught On Video

2 LAPD officers allegedly forced sex acts on women

"Two Los Angeles Police Department officers are under investigation for allegedly preying on women over a period of five years, luring them into an unmarked car and forcing them to perform sex acts, according to court records. The pair repeatedly used the threat of jail to get women into their car and drove them to secluded areas where one of the officers demanded sex while the other kept watch, the warrant alleges. Valenzuela and Nichols worked together until recently as narcotics officers in the Hollywood Division. Investigators have identified four women who encountered the pair and made similar independent accusations against them." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2 LAPD officers allegedly forced sex acts on women

‘Anything That Moves’: Civilians And The Vietnam War

"On March 16, 1968, between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were gunned down by members of the U.S. Army in what became known as the My Lai Massacre. The U.S. government has maintained that atrocities like this were isolated incidents in the conflict. Nick Turse says otherwise. In his new book, Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, Turse argues that the intentional killing of civilians was quite common in a war that claimed 2 million civilian lives, with 5.3 million civilians wounded and 11 million refugees." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Anything That Moves’: Civilians And The Vietnam War

Russian official demonizes U.S. for ‘inhumane torture’ of adopted children

"A woman in the US state of Texas has killed her adopted Russian son, the Kremlin’s envoy for children said Monday, outlining the latest alleged abuse of an adopted Russian child by American parents. 'A three-year-old Russian child has been murdered by his adoptive mother in the state of Texas,' ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said on his office’s Twitter feed @RFdeti. 'Three-year-old Maxim was beaten (according to the investigators) by his adoptive mother, who fed him psychoactive drugs over a long period of time,' he said, expressing dismay that the US State Department kept silent about the case." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussian official demonizes U.S. for ‘inhumane torture’ of adopted children

Senate committee chair: U.S. will likely have more active military role in Mali

"The United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where French-led forces are battling Islamist rebels, after the country holds elections, the chair of a key Senate sub-committee said Monday. Washington has been providing intelligence, transport and mid-air refuelling to France, which launched its intervention last month, but cannot work directly with the Malian army until a democratically elected government replaces current leaders who came to power after a coup." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate committee chair: U.S. will likely have more active military role in Mali

Iraq back at the brink

"It was Britain that triggered Iraq's modern tragedy, starting with its seizure of Baghdad in 1917 and the haphazard reshaping of a country to fit the colonial needs and economic interests of London. One could argue that the early and unequalled mess created by the British invaders continued to wreak havoc, manifesting itself in various ways until this very day. But of course, the US now deserves most of the credit of reversing whatever has been achieved by the Iraqi people. It was US secretary of state James Baker who reportedly threatened Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz in a Geneva meeting in 1991 by saying that the US would destroy Iraq and 'bring it back to the stone age'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIraq back at the brink