The US House of Representatives approved a bill at the beginning of this month aimed at completely closing off Iranian petroleum exports. Not since President Roosevelt told Japan in July 1941 that he was going to cut it off from American petroleum has the United States threatened to use oil to strangle a country so […]
Archives for August 2013
How Much Blood Money does the US Pay to Families of Innocent Drone Victims? It’s Classified (Currier)
Cora Currier writes at Propublica: There have been nine drone strikes reported in Yemen in the past two weeks – an uptick apparently connected to the Al Qaeda threat that shut down U.S. embassies across the Middle East and Africa. As many as six civilian deaths have also been reported. President Obama has promised increased […]
India’s Energy could be 15% from Renewables by 2020: Greentech CEOs
When you actually put renewable energy CEOs on television, they can explain that coal and other hyrdrocarbons receive government subsidies, making them look much cheaper than they actually are, whereas wind is now competitive with coal. When’s the last time you say a conversation like this on American television? You have to wonder if Time […]
Israeli Gov’t mocks ‘Peace Talks’ with announcement of 1200 New Squatter homes in Occupied Palestine
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that it would take bids on nearly 1200 new housing units on Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. The news from Tel Aviv further underlines what a charade the John Kerry-pushed “peace talks” are between a powerful Israel occupying some 4 million stateless Palestinians and the […]
Neoliberalism Fail: Top 8 Ways Privatization has Harmed us All (Buchheit)
Paul Buchheit writes at Commondreams.org: Some of America's leading news analysts are beginning to recognize the fallacy of the "free market." Said Ted Koppel, "We are privatizing ourselves into one disaster after another." Fareed Zakaria admitted, "I am a big fan of the free market…But precisely because it is so powerful, in places where it […]
Egypt: Food Crisis looms as Interim Gov’t decides to disperse Muslim Brotherhood Protesters Peacefully
In the midst of its political crisis, Egypt also faces rising food prices that are hitting the poor hard. This rise comes on top of tremendous price increases for staples under deposed president Muhammad Morsi this past year, as a result of the government not importing enough wheat and the 15% fall in the price […]
Fukushima’s Strontium Leaks a Neverending Crisis? (Germanos)
Andrea Germanos writes at Commondreams courtesy VOAnews As the disaster at Fukushima plant continues to unfold, one nuclear expert is warning that "this is an accident that’s shockingly not stopping." Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), sounds particular alarm around radioactive strontium that is being released from the trouble-stricken […]
Before he Was President, Obama Championed Extensive Surveillance Reforms (Brandeisky)
Kara Brandeisky writes at ProPublica When the House of Representatives recently considered an amendment that would have dismantled the NSA’s bulk phone records collection program, the White House swiftly condemned the measure. But only five years ago, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. was part of a group of legislators that supported substantial changes to NSA surveillance […]
Obama’s Reassurances about Domestic Surveillance are not Reassuring
President Obama gave a news conference on Friday in which he addressed the controversy over Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding NSA spying on the American people. This issue is a very difficult one for Mr. Obama, given that he came to it from civil libertarian position as a senator, but now is president. When you are […]
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