Winning Hearts & Minds

Chicago trauma center age-restriction protesters accuse cops of roughing them up

"Protesters accused University of Chicago police of excessive force during a demonstration against the school’s medical center on Sunday. Authorities arrested four protesters but also allegedly attacked others, including the woman whose family tragedy inspired the campaign against the University of Chicago’s youth trauma center. Sheila Rush said campus police shoved her to the ground during the protest, an attempt to stage a sit-in at a $700 million addition to the facility, which only serves patients 16 years of age or younger. She said the age restriction leaves the city’s south side without a similar treatment option for adults." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChicago trauma center age-restriction protesters accuse cops of roughing them up

New York paramedics posting disturbing pictures of patients online

"EMS officers in New York are posted pictures of injured and dead people online, according to the New York Post. One such officer, 34-year-old Lt. Timothy Dluhos, posted the picture of a woman in a wheelchair — along with the with caption 'Wide Load' — on social media websites. The act is likely a violation of federal law. When confronted about his online activity, he broke down crying, saying his life was ruined. The newspaper also uncovered other EMS and EMT officers who published pictures of those they were supposed to be helping. The pictures were often accompanied by mocking comments or collected as 'trophy' shots." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York paramedics posting disturbing pictures of patients online

NATO airstrike kills two Afghan children

"A NATO helicopter strike killed two children in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, in the latest civilian casualties to beset the coalition’s war against Taliban militants. The operation close to Ghazni city was conducted after local people complained of a Taliban post targeting traffic convoys in the area, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Ghazni province, said. 'It was a joint (Afghan and coalition) operation conducted this morning that killed nine Taliban. Unfortunately, two school children were also killed and seven other civilians were wounded,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNATO airstrike kills two Afghan children

Study: Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost U.S. up to $6 trillion

"The Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost the United States between $4-6 trillion in the long term. Harvard University scholar Linda Bilmes concluded that the United States will face increasing costs to care for an estimated 2.5 million veterans, and to pay down debt incurred by borrowing to pay for the wars. Bilmes said that costs will climb over decades. She wrote that the peak year for disability payments over World War I, which ended in 1918, was 1969 as veterans became elderly. Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary under Bush, said before the invasion that the Iraq war would cost around $50 billion and called higher estimates 'baloney.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudy: Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost U.S. up to $6 trillion

Sikh man cites religion in lawsuit against gun controls

"Gursant Singh Khalsa, a practicing Sikh for 35 years, charges in the lawsuit filed this month that California’s laws banning military-style, semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines violate mainstream Sikh doctinre requiring Sikhs 'be at all time fully prepared to defend themselves and others against injustice.' 'We’re required to wear what’s called a kirpan' or dagger, he said Thursday. 'I feel, as far as my religion goes, it dictates that we should have all weapons of all kinds to defend ourselves. By not being able to carry an assault rifle or weapon that has a high-capacity magazine, I don’t feel that I can defend myself or my family.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSikh man cites religion in lawsuit against gun controls

Home-schooling family who fled to U.S. from Germany face deportation by Obama administration

"When they took their three oldest children out of school in 2006, police showed up at their house within 24 hours, only leaving after a group of supporters showed up and organized a quick protest. But their legal troubles were just beginning. Germany began fining the family, ultimately racking up a bill of more than 7,000 Euros ($9,000). After they fled to the United States in 2010, the Romeike family initially were granted political asylum and found a home in Tennessee. They had a sixth child. But then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appealed the asylum decision in 2012. The federal Board of Immigration Appeals sided with the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHome-schooling family who fled to U.S. from Germany face deportation by Obama administration

Brennan Promotes CIA Agent Who Helped Run Torture Programs

"John Brennan, the man Obama appointed to head the CIA, promoted an undercover agent to be director of the CIA’s clandestine service, despite the fact that she helped run the CIA’s illegal torture and detention program after 9/11 and 'signed off on the 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to treatment critics have called torture.' 'The woman, who remains undercover and cannot be named, was put in the top position on an acting basis when the previous chief retired last month,' reports The Washington Post." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrennan Promotes CIA Agent Who Helped Run Torture Programs

Afghan villagers flee their homes as US drones terrorize them

"Barely able to walk even with a cane, Ghulam Rasool says he padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and fled his mountain home in the middle of the night to escape relentless airstrikes from U.S. drones targeting militants in this remote corner of Afghanistan. Rasool and other Afghan villagers have their own name for Predator drones. They call them benghai, which in the Pashto language means the 'buzzing of flies.' When they explain the noise, they scrunch their faces and try to make a sound that resembles an army of flies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfghan villagers flee their homes as US drones terrorize them

Creator of drone casualties visualization hopes data will ‘shock’ people

"Wesley Grubbs of Pitch Interactive told HuffPost Live on Tuesday that he created an interactive graph of the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan to highlight civilian causalities. 'We want to shock people,' he explained. 'What we tried to do though with this was not just shock people with the number of casualties, but to shock people with the amount of information that we really don’t know.' The data visualization illustrates the number of casualties from drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and 2013, categorizing the victims as either children, civilians, alleged combatants, or high-profile targets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCreator of drone casualties visualization hopes data will ‘shock’ people

Inside Oklahoma’s Quest To Dominate The American Drone Industry

"Oklahoma businesspeople, academics, and politicians are collaborating through an organization named USA-OK, which aims to make the heartland state the focal point of American UAV development. A quasi-affiliated group, the Governor’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Council (PDF), was formed via an executive order from Governor Mary Fallin in 2011. Both organizations are lobbying for commercial drone test sites in Oklahoma and increased government assistance in luring more large military contractors to the state. Oklahoma is already home to approximately 15 companies servicing the UAV industry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInside Oklahoma’s Quest To Dominate The American Drone Industry