US politics

By Andrew Cockburn | (Tomdispatch.com) | – As the war on terror nears its 14th anniversary — a war we seem to be losing, given jihadist advances in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen — the U.S. sticks stolidly to its strategy of “high-value targeting,” our preferred euphemism for assassination. Secretary of State John Kerry has proudly […]

Barack Obama

Bush blames Obama for lack of Wars (‘Follow-Through’ on ‘Threats’)

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush spoke privately this weekend at a Republican Jewish Coalition session hosted by casino sleazeball Sheldon Adelson, who made his pile in a very shady way in China’s Macau and now gets to choose the US president with his ill-gotten gains. What was remarkable was that […]

African-Americans

Thoughts On Freddie Grey Protest by a Young Baltimore Resident

contributors

@hotdamnirock | – A call for disciplined protest from a young Baltimore resident with a foul mouth. Warning: Language. h/t Reddit.com Hotdamnirock: “Thoughts On #FreddieGrey Protest”

Iran

Middle East Conflicts Trigger New U.S.-Russia Arms Race

contributors

By Thalif Deen | — UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The escalating military conflicts in the Middle East – and the month-long aerial bombings of Yemen by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia – have triggered a new arms race in the politically-volatile region. The primary beneficiaries are the United States and Russia, two of […]

Corporate Surveillance

Danger: GOP House’s “Cybersecurity Bills” are Surveillance Bills in Disguise

contributors

By Mark Jaycox | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – The House passed two cybersecurity “information sharing” bills today: the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s Protecting Cyber Networks Act, and the House Homeland Security Committee’s National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act. Both bills will be “conferenced” to create one bill and then sent to the Senate […]

Barack Obama

Obama “I’ve aged so much Boehner invited Netanyahu to speak at my Funeral”

contributors

C-Span | (White House Correspondents Dinner) – “From C-SPAN coverage, President Obama remarks at the 2014 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.” President Obama complete remarks at 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner (C-SPAN)

Constitution

US admits it has no Idea who it is Assassinating by Drone

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The tragic deaths last January, just now being revealed, of two Western hostages in drone strikes on a relatively empty housing complex in northern Pakistan near the Afghanistan border underlines that the Obama administration is killing people from the air without knowing who they are and is killing […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Double Standard: Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky

contributors

Newsy | – “Retired Gen. David Petraeus was sentenced Thursday for mishandling classified government documents, but why was his punishment relatively light?” Newsy: “Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky”

African-Americans

Tensions Boil Over After Baltimore Police Call Protesters “Lynch Mob”

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) Demonstrators still seeking answers over the mysterious and troubling death of Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal injury while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department, circled City Hall on Thursday after Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that he had called in state troopers to help […]