Winning Hearts & Minds

Tortured by the Government You Served? Tough Luck

"In 2004, a U.S. Navy veteran named Donald Vance went to Iraq to work as a security contractor. When he discovered that the company employing him was selling weapons to radical Islamist militias, Vance contacted the FBI and began feeding it information. Rather than acting on Vance’s disclosures, the military seized him. For several weeks Vance was imprisoned in an Iraqi dungeon, where he was subjected to interrogation that legally qualified as torture. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed Vance’s lawsuit, arguing that Rumsfeld and every other official in the military chain of command enjoys blanket immunity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTortured by the Government You Served? Tough Luck

As Sanctions Hit Iran’s Most Vulnerable, the Man Who Dared to Feed Sanction-Starved Iraq Remains in Prison

"Dr. Dhafir was one of many Americans, Muslims and non-Muslims, who for 13 years had raised money for food and medicines for sick and starving Iraqis who were the victims of sanctions. He had asked US officials if this humanitarian aid was legal and was assured it was - until the early morning he was hauled out of his car by federal agents as he left for work. His front door was smashed down and his wife had guns pointed at her head. Today, he is serving 22 years in prison. No executive of the oil companies that did billions of dollars of illegal business with Saddam Hussein during the embargo has been prosecuted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAs Sanctions Hit Iran’s Most Vulnerable, the Man Who Dared to Feed Sanction-Starved Iraq Remains in Prison

4 More Drones! Robot Attacks Are on Deck for Obama’s Next Term

"Civil libertarians rightly point to Obama’s reversals on expanding warrantless surveillance; the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects; military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay; prosecuting whistleblowers; and embracing an expensive definition of the war on terrorism’s executive powers. But there’s little evidence that Obama will change course. The evidence is staring everyone in the face. Obama has elevated a practice of stealthy robotic warfare to the tactic of choice for U.S. security priorities, and built around it a system that operates it practically on bureaucratic inertia." Continue reading →

Continue Reading4 More Drones! Robot Attacks Are on Deck for Obama’s Next Term

‘The Fight Over Medical Marijuana’

"Our federal marijuana policy is increasingly out of step with both the values of American citizens and with state law. The result is a system of justice that is schizophrenic and at times appalling. Consider the case of Chris Williams, who opened a marijuana grow house in Montana after the state legalized medical cannabis. Mr. Williams was eventually arrested by federal agents despite Montana’s medical marijuana law, and he may spend the rest of his life behind bars. While Jerry Sandusky got a 30-year minimum sentence for raping young boys, Mr. Williams is looking at a mandatory minimum of more than 80 years." Continue reading →

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Taliban urge Obama to pull troops out now

"Taliban insurgents told re-elected President Barack Obama to admit that the United States has lost the war in Afghanistan and pull its troops out now. 'Obama must by now know that they have lost the war in Afghanistan,' spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on the Islamists’ website. 'So, without further lying and delays, they should leave our sacred land and focus on their own country instead.' Accusing Americans of committing war crimes, he added: 'The American administration should stop acting like police in the world and focus on solving their own people’s problems, and don’t make the world hate Americans even more.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaliban urge Obama to pull troops out now

Obama Bombs Yemen Hours After Winning Reelection

"Not even a full day had passed before newly reelected President Obama ordered another drone strike in Yemen. 'A U.S. drone strike targeted a group of al-Qaida militants on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday night, killing at least three terrorists, government officials said.' The drone war violates both domestic and international law, and the Obama administration’s vehement disdain for transparency in government is the only thing keeping it from public and legal scrutiny. Beyond the law, it’s terrorism." Continue reading →

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DEA Responds to Legal Weed in Colorado and Washington: “Enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged”

"Despite the passage of ballot initiatives in Washington and Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana, 'the Drug Enforcement Administration’s enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged,' a DEA spokesperson told Reason this morning. 'In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. The Department of Justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives and we have no additional comment at this time.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDEA Responds to Legal Weed in Colorado and Washington: “Enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged”

Pakistani flagmakers may see boost in sales after Obama victory spurs more effigies

"Demonstrations against Washington’s programme of missile strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are common in Pakistan, and no protest is complete without a Stars and Stripes being sent up in flames. Nadeem Shah, the owner of a flag business in Rawalpindi, the twin city of the capital Islamabad, said he expected more drone strikes — and more protests. In Rawalpindi, US flags start at around 120 rupees ($1.25) but in Nadeem Shah’s shop 1,500 rupees will get you a three-square-metre number in cloth." Continue reading →

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Piedmont Boy, 3, Gets $2,500 Ticket For Urinating In His Front Yard

"A three year old gets his mom in trouble with the law when he gets a ticket from police. Now the little boy's mother will have to pay thousands of dollars for what the toddler did in their own front yard. The toddler is being potty trained, and he wasn't near the facilities, so he unzipped. We are told before he could pee, a Piedmont police officer stopped him. It's a bathroom break that cost mom $2,500." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPiedmont Boy, 3, Gets $2,500 Ticket For Urinating In His Front Yard