Winning Hearts & Minds

Did cops need to kill a 95-year-old veteran with a Taser, riot shield and shotgun?

"When John Wrana was a young man, fit and strong and fighting in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps, did he ever think he'd end this way? Just a few weeks shy of his 96th birthday, in need of a walker to move about, cops coming through the door of his retirement home with a Taser and a shotgun. The old man, described by a family member as 'wobbly' on his feet, had refused medical attention. The paramedics were called. They brought in the Park Forest police.First they tased him, but that didn't work. So they fired a shotgun, hitting him in the stomach with a bean-bag round. Wrana was struck with such force that he bled to death internally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDid cops need to kill a 95-year-old veteran with a Taser, riot shield and shotgun?

FBI: nearly twice as many renunciations in first seven months this year

"The FBI has released its latest report on Active Records in the NICS Index as of 31 July 2013. NICS now contains the records of 22,908 renunciants who have been stripped of the right to purchase firearms in the United States. This is an increase of 298 since last month and 2,254 since December last year; this compares to 1,184 renunciants recorded by the FBI in January–July 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI: nearly twice as many renunciations in first seven months this year

Turkish court imprisons dozens over alleged ‘plot’ to overthrow government

"A Turkish court on Monday sentenced a former military chief to life in prison and dozens of others including opposition members of parliament to long terms for plotting against the government, in a trial that has exposed deep divisions in the country. Retired military chief of staff General Ilker Basbug was sentenced to life for his role in the 'Ergenekon' conspiracy to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Announcing verdicts on the nearly 300 defendants in the case, the judges also sentenced three serving parliamentarians from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to between 12 and 35 years in prison." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurkish court imprisons dozens over alleged ‘plot’ to overthrow government

Bloomberg Article Describes the Death of Digital Privacy: Snowden’s Revenge

"If anyone has any doubts that Edward Snowden personally blew a hole in the dam of the U.S. government’s surveillance state, consider this article on Bloomberg. This is a conventional media site. It is mainstream to the core. Yet here is what it has reported. There is no way that anything like this would have been published by Bloomberg three months ago. Snowden provided the evidence. This blew the hole in the dam. The dam is beginning to crack. The American public is now aware of what has taken place. The government’s attempt to paint Snowden as a traitor is not working." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBloomberg Article Describes the Death of Digital Privacy: Snowden’s Revenge

CIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike

"Double tapping is sure to make even those who support the use of drones at least a little queasy. To many, it is uncomfortably similar to the tactics used by some of the terrorists we are supposed to be morally superior to: Hamas, for example. Some argue that it is a violation of international law, including at least one UN official. At the very least, it is a risky tactic for a country that holds itself up as an example of rectitude in the world and it weakens our moral authority. Worse yet, it creates a justification that could be used against us by future enemies who don't even pretend to have our level of regard for human life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike

Yemeni Engineer Begs Obama to Stop Murdering His Family with Drones

"Last year, Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, a respected Muslim cleric in Yemen, gave a speech denouncing al Qaeda. Representatives from Al Qaeda came to speak with Jaber and his cousin in a private meeting. During this meeting, they were all incinerated in a drone strike by the United States. Jaber’s brother-in-law, Faisal bin Ali Jaber, has written a letter, distributed by human rights group Reprieve, begging Obama and Hadi to stop killing innocents in these drone strikes and warning that they are making enemies of the very communities they claim to be trying to protect." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYemeni Engineer Begs Obama to Stop Murdering His Family with Drones

California governor Jerry Brown intervenes to delay threatened BART strike

"Brown’s letter said he took the action 'because the strike will significantly disrupt public transportation services and will endanger the public’s health, safety, and welfare.' San Francisco area residents had been bracing for a strike even as 11th-hour talks continued, with some sleeping at friends’ and relatives’ homes to be closer to jobs and making alternative travel arrangements. The unions gave a 72-hour notice on Thursday night of a possible strike by 2,400 workers on a rail system that carries 400,000 passengers a day and serves as a critical link in the San Francisco area’s transportation system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia governor Jerry Brown intervenes to delay threatened BART strike

U.S. military helicopter crashes in Japan’s Okinawa

"A U.S. military helicopter crashed on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Monday, U.S. Forces in Japan said, an incident which may stoke anger over the concentration of U.S. military bases on the island. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to move the U.S. Marines’ Futenma airbase to a less crowded part of the island, but stiff opposition from Okinawa residents is stalling the plan. Residents of Okinawa, host to the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan, have long resented bearing what many feel is an unfair share of the burden for the U.S.-Japan military alliance. Many associate the U.S. bases with accidents, crime and pollution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. military helicopter crashes in Japan’s Okinawa

CNN Says Bradley Manning ‘Betrayed’ America

"From simply complaining about our tap water to being political activists, we now have on the record admission from both state and federal officials that the DHS’ classification of a ‘terrorist’ is broad enough to apply to 100% of the population. In fact, all we have to do to see the true extent of this is to go back to the bombshell report out of a recent German newspaper. The article reveals that the United States military is actually targeting those who oppose genetically modified organisms in the food supply. So, with these numbers, that means at least 93-96% of the US population can now be classified as terrorists under this factor alone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCNN Says Bradley Manning ‘Betrayed’ America

Last Hurrah of the Interventionists?

"In what a Washington Post columnist describes as a rout of Rand Paul isolationism, the Senate just voted overwhelmingly to send another $1.5 billion in foreign aid to Egypt. The House voted 400-20 to impose new sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, two days before Iran’s new president, elected on a pledge to re-engage the West on the nuclear issue, takes his oath. Do these triumphs of AIPAC and the War Party, of neocons and liberal internationalists, tell us where we are going? Or are they the last hurrahs of the interventionists, as America’s long retreat proceeds apace." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLast Hurrah of the Interventionists?