Winning Hearts & Minds

Hunger and homelessness rise dramatically in the U.S.

"The most striking increase in homelessness was among families, and shelters had to turn away about 17 per cent of people seeking a place to sleep due to lack of space. A lack of affordable housing was the most common reason for homelessness among families with children, followed by poverty, unemployment, eviction and domestic violence. Some 51 per cent of the people seeking food assistance were families, 37 per cent were employed, 17 per cent were elderly and nine per cent were homeless. Unemployment was nonetheless the leading cause of hunger, followed by poverty, low wages and high housing costs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHunger and homelessness rise dramatically in the U.S.

The £240million private jet with a Turkish bath, boardroom and concert hall

"When you have £16billion in the bank, a Cessna is simply not an option. Instead, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud is about to take delivery of an Airbus A380, the world’s biggest private jet. The same model is used by Singapore Airlines and Emirates and can fly 800 passengers 8,000 miles before refuelling. But the Saudi prince doesn’t need 800 seats, so he will have them removed to make room for an opulent, marble-finished Turkish bath and a parking space for his Rolls-Royce. The Western-educated prince, 57, is known as the Warren Buffett of the Middle East because of his reputation as a shrewd investor. He also owns 7 per cent of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe £240million private jet with a Turkish bath, boardroom and concert hall

China arrests nearly 1,000 doomsday ‘cult’ members of ‘Almighty God’

"The Christian-inspired group 'Almighty God' has been accused of spreading doomsday rumours apparently linked to the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar and urging followers to slay the 'red dragon' of communism, state media reports said. Close to 1,000 followers of the sect, which state-run media labels an 'evil cult' – the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong group – have been held in a nationwide crackdown that began last week, state-run CCTV reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina arrests nearly 1,000 doomsday ‘cult’ members of ‘Almighty God’

Greece: Crony Capitalists Will Squeeze You and Freeze You

"The household price for heating oil in Greece reached 1,266 euros per 1,000 liters (264 gallons) in the second quarter of 2012, surging 48 percent from a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency. Greeks pay both excise and value-added taxes on heating oil that can make up 42 percent of the total cost. Greece’s oil prices are high because of laws that protect the country’s two refining companies and prevent competition, said Pavlos Eleftheriadis, a lecturer in law at the University of Oxford in England, who studies monopolies. 'The Greek political system works for the insiders,' said Eleftheriadis, a native of Greece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreece: Crony Capitalists Will Squeeze You and Freeze You

U.S. Government Asks Court Not To Consider Targeted Killing Challenge

"The U.S. government today filed its first response to a lawsuit challenging the targeted killing of the three U.S. citizens in Yemen last year, Anwar Al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman and Samir Khan. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, which brought the case on behalf of the families of the Americans who died, issued the following statement about the government’s motion to dismiss." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Government Asks Court Not To Consider Targeted Killing Challenge

Russia to vote on banning U.S. adoptions

"The Russian parliament will vote this week on a bill banning adoption of Russian children by Americans, in retaliation to the Magnitsky Act passed by the United States last week, lawmakers said Monday. Ahead of the key second reading scheduled for Wednesday, lawmakers added to the text of the bill new clauses banning adoptions of Russian children by US nationals, according to opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov, who posted a copy of the amended bill online. The amended bill would also order the closure of US adoption agencies in Russia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussia to vote on banning U.S. adoptions

Sandy Hook Massacre: Sympathy from the Devil

"What Adam Lanza did once in a fit of murderous irrationality, the Regime over which Obama presides does practically every day – by people who act with clear-eyed, clinical indifference to the suffering they inflict. The killer who slaughtered the innocent at Sandy Hook is dead. The Child-Killing Apparatus over which Obama presides continues merrily along. Americans understandably shaken and saddened to the depth of their souls by the horrors in Newton should consider this: The government that impudently presumes to rule us has made Sandy Hook-style massacres routine for residents of Pakistan." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSandy Hook Massacre: Sympathy from the Devil

Study: Wind blew deadly gas to U.S. troops in Gulf War

"U.S. bombings of Iraqi munitions factories in January 1991 released a plume of sarin gas that traveled more than 300 miles to affect American troops in Saudi Arabia, although military officials claimed at the time that chemical alarms triggered by the gas were false. The Jan. 18, 1991, bombings of the munitions plants in Nasiriyah and Khamisiya blew a plume of sarin gas high above a layer of cold, still air and into a swift wind stream that carried the gas to Saudi Arabia. The gas plumes, the researchers said, can be blamed for symptoms of Gulf War illness, the mysterious ailment that has affected more than 250,000 veterans of the war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudy: Wind blew deadly gas to U.S. troops in Gulf War

The Woes of an American Drone Operator

"A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit of the United States Air Force in New Mexico. He kills dozens of people. But then, one day, he realizes that he can't do it anymore. For more than five years, Brandon Bryant worked in an oblong, windowless container about the size of a trailer, where the air-conditioning was kept at 63 degrees Fahrenheit and, for security reasons, the door couldn't be opened. Bryant and his coworkers sat in front of 14 computer monitors and four keyboards. When Bryant pressed a button in New Mexico, someone died on the other side of the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Woes of an American Drone Operator

Double Tap Drones: What Has Happened to the United States?

"NYU student Josh Begley is tweeting every reported U.S. drone strike since 2002, and the feed highlights a disturbing tactic employed by the U.S. that is widely considered a war crime. Known as the 'double tap,' the tactic involves bombing a target multiple times in relatively quick succession, meaning that the second strike often hits first responders. A 2007 report by the Homeland Security Institute called double taps a 'favorite tactic of Hamas' and the FBI considers it a tactic employed by terrorists. The reports featured on @dronestream clearly document that U.S. hellfire missiles have intentionally targeted funerals and civilian rescuers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDouble Tap Drones: What Has Happened to the United States?