Winning Hearts & Minds

Veterans Administration again accused of covering up the causes of ‘Gulf War Syndrome’

"An alarming but widely-ignored report by a federal panel of high-level scientists charged with advising the government on the disease accused the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of covering up the true nature and cause of a profound systemic illness that medical scientists have traced to wartime exposures — including neurotoxins, depleted uranium, and microbes, among others. The culprits, the committee claims, are bureaucrats in the Veterans’ Administration Office of Public Health, whose coordination of a robust strategic plan for Gulf War Illness (on which RAC had consulted) has 'gutted' science, 'focus,' 'energy,' and budgetary resources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeterans Administration again accused of covering up the causes of ‘Gulf War Syndrome’

Afghan official: NATO airstrike kills 9 civilians, five children and four women

"A NATO airstrike struck two houses, killing as many as nine Afghan civilians and four insurgents in an eastern province near the Pakistani border, officials said Wednesday. The attack occurred about 10 p.m. Tuesday during a joint NATO-Afghan operation in the Shigal district of Kunar province, a lawmaker from the area said. The U.S.-led military alliance in Kabul said it was looking into the reports. Wagma Sapay, a member of parliament from Kunar, said the civilians killed were in one house while four senior Taliban leaders were slain as they were gathering next door in the village of Sharpool in the Chawkam area." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfghan official: NATO airstrike kills 9 civilians, five children and four women

US Killed Hundreds of Children in Afghanistan, Says New Report — US Rejects Report

"The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that it was 'alarmed' by reports that hundreds of children died as a result of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan because of a 'reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force,' the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend. The UN report also condemned the arrest and detention of children in Afghanistan. But the U.S. military said 'the reports were unsubstantiated and cited figures from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan showing that the vast majority of civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan over the last several years were caused by insurgents.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Killed Hundreds of Children in Afghanistan, Says New Report — US Rejects Report

Pentagon to Start Awarding Medals for Drone Strikes and Cyberattacks

"The Defense Department is reportedly inventing a new medal designed to reward soliders who fight battles from the safety of their computer consoles. The Associated Press says the Pentagon is creating a new ribbon, called the Distinguished Warfare Medal that will be given for 'extra achievement' related to a military operation. That would include drone pilots operating unmanned planes from halfway around the world, or even hackers who launch a successful cyberattack on an enemy. Unlike all other combat-related medals, this would be the first one that you can be awarded without actually putting your life on the line." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon to Start Awarding Medals for Drone Strikes and Cyberattacks

L.A. Residents Plead With LAPD On Signs, Shirts: ‘Don’t Shoot, I’m Not Chris Dorner’

"In response to the LAPD shooting at least 3 innocent people in a manhunt for Chris Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop and alleged murderer they’re hunting with U.S. military spy drones, residents of Los Angeles have begun wearing shirts and placing signs and bumper stickers on their vehicles that read, 'Don’t shoot, I’m not Chris Dorner. Thank you.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingL.A. Residents Plead With LAPD On Signs, Shirts: ‘Don’t Shoot, I’m Not Chris Dorner’

Why Police Lie Under Oath

"Are police officers necessarily more trustworthy than alleged criminals? I think not. Not just because the police have a special inclination toward confabulation, but because, disturbingly, they have an incentive to lie. In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn’t be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so. Agencies receive cash rewards for arresting high numbers of people for drug offenses, no matter how minor the offenses or how weak the evidence. Law enforcement has increasingly become a numbers game. And as it has, police officers’ tendency to regard procedural rules as optional and to lie and distort the facts has grown as well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Police Lie Under Oath

Vietnam jails 22 activists for subversion

"The 22 were accused of running a 'reactionary' group disguised as an eco-tourism operator, which produced documents 'slandering' the regime and distorting its guidelines and policies, according to state media. Dozens of activists have been jailed since Vietnam — a one-party state that forbids political debate — began a new crackdown on free expression in late 2009. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered a new crackdown on online dissent, telling authorities to fight against anyone using the Internet to 'defame and spread propaganda against the party and state'. Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVietnam jails 22 activists for subversion

The Italian Patient: Resisting Berlusconi’s Charms

"Other populists are also gathering votes in the race to the finish line. One of them is Beppe Grillo of the protest movement 'Movimento 5 Stelle.' Grillo travels around the country on a 'tsunami tour,' hates Merkel, doesn't want to repay a cent of debt and is seriously calling upon Al-Qaida to bomb the parliament in Rome, saying that he would even provide the terrorists with the necessary coordinates. Polls estimate that Grillo has the potential to capture 20 percent of the vote. He could become the third-strongest force by securing the support of the sizable number of undecided Italians who are weary of politics." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Italian Patient: Resisting Berlusconi’s Charms

The Fed’s Bailout Of Europe Continues With Record $237 Billion Injected Into Foreign Banks In Past Month

"In the past 4 weeks, the Fed has injected a record $237 billion of cash into foreign banks with access to the Fed's excess reserves: a number greater than both the cash influx surge seen after the Lehman collapse, and faster and more acute than the massive build up of cash during the spring and summer of 2011 when all the Fed's brand new QE2 cash was once again, solely used to overfund European bank cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Fed’s Bailout Of Europe Continues With Record $237 Billion Injected Into Foreign Banks In Past Month

Greeks strip country for scrap cash

"Train lines, bridges, cables and even cemeteries have all been targeted for scrap to feed a market driven by China and India. Police now arrest an average of four metal thieves every day, compared to a few cases every month before the crisis started in late 2009. The profile of the metal thief is also changing, authorities say, from gypsies and immigrants living on the margins of society to mainstream Greeks who have fallen on hard times. Athens' nine-year-old light rail system has been a prime magnet for metal robbers, with at least five major disruptions reported in the past six months due to cable theft." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreeks strip country for scrap cash