National Security State

By RFE/RL | — A U.S.-based rights watchdog says Internet freedom around the world has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive year, with the steepest declines in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey. In its “Freedom On The Net 2014” report, released on December 4, Freedom House says that Iran, Syria, and China are the world’s worst abusers […]

African-Americans

Chokehold Victim Eric Garner’s Mother: “Justice System Failed Us”

contributors

AJ+ | — “Dec. 3, 2014, New York City: The widow of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man who died after an NYPD officer killed him by chokehold, says she doesn’t accept the officer’s prayers and condolences. She was speaking at a news conference along with Eric Garner’s mother and Rev. Al Sharpton hours after […]

Bill of Rights

Can the Police Phone-Track you without a Warrant?

contributors

Hanni Fakhoury and Jennifer Lynch (Electronic Frontier Foundation) Once again, a federal court will decide whether police can track your movements over an extended period of time without a search warrant. Federal and state courts have divided over whether the Fourth Amendment requires police seek a search warrant to obtain historical cell site location information […]

Afghanistan

What if it was Russia and China invading and Bombing? The Blindness of MSM and Washington

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt (Tomdispatch.com) | — Let’s play a game, the kind that makes no sense on this single-superpower planet of ours. For a moment, do your best to suspend disbelief and imagine that there’s another superpower, great power, or even regional power somewhere that, between 2001 and 2003, launched two major wars in the […]

Dissent

Top Five Washington Assumptions on Mideast that Are not True

contributors

By Andrew J. Bacevich (Tomdispatch.com) | — “Iraq no longer exists.” My young friend M, sipping a cappuccino, is deadly serious. We are sitting in a scruffy restaurant across the street from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. It’s been years since we’ve last seen each another. It may […]

Humor

American Public’s Rewards for voting GOP control of Congress (Political Cartoon)

contributors

Paul Jamiol | — via Jamiol’s World

Barack Obama

Gen Dempsey: US Considering Ground Troops in Iraq

contributors

VOA | — “America’s top military leader says he is considering deploying a limited number of U.S soldiers to fight with Iraqi troops against Islamic State militants. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks Thursday during testimony before the U.S. Congress. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from […]

Drones

Stealth Drone Proliferation: Iranians Reverse engineer captured US Spy Drone

contributors

Press TV: | “Iran has released a video showing the test flight of an Iranian-made version of the captured US RQ-170 spy drone. The stealth drone was designed and made in less than three years and will be ready for surveillance, combat and other related missions in the next few months. The RQ-170 Sentinel stealth […]

Featured

Top 5 Disasters If GOP Senate derails Iran talks

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | The Republican Party is already conniving at ways to derail the US-Iran negotiations over Tehran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program. When they take over the senate in January, the GOP senators will be in a good position to deep-six the talks and deny President Obama a diplomatic breakthrough. Iran does not have […]