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Monday, June 30, 2014

Americans Think We Have the World’s Best Colleges. We Don’t. New York Times

Americans Think We Have the World’s Best Colleges. We Don’t. New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/upshot/americans-think-we-have-the-worlds-best-colleges-we-dont.html

Interventionism Is a Bigger Terror Threat Than the Iraqi Civil War

Interventionism Is a Bigger Terror Threat Than the Iraqi Civil War
by Ed Krayewski
Reasonhttp://reason.com/archives/2014/06/24/interventionism-a-bigger-terror-threat-t

Catholics, Libertarians, and the Poor

Catholics, Libertarians, and the Poor

by
In a previous post in this series, I detailed the hypocrisy that pervades statists with respect to the poor. While they claim to love the poor, needy, and disadvantaged, they abuse, mistreat, insult, incarcerate, round up, fine, and deport undocumented immigrants, who are among the poorest people in the world, people who are just following the God-given drive to sustain and improve their lives through labor by getting jobs with American employers who wish to hire them.
As I asked in that post, which is part of a series of articles I am writing in response to a conference held at the Catholic University of America entitled “Erroneous Authority: The Catholic Case Against Libertarianism.” how in the world can any self-respecting Catholic associate himself with the statist position on immigration, especially give the Lord’s second-greatest commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself? It is only the libertarian position favoring open immigration — that is, freedom of travel, freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of contract, and economic liberty — that is consistent with fulfilling that commandment.
Statists try to ameliorate their sinful conduct against illegal immigrants by their support of socialism and fascism, which they claim is the way to help the poor. Unfortunately, however, not only is more sinful conduct inherent to their economic philosophy, their philosophy actually dooms people to poverty.
Why would Catholics want to be part of a philosophy that not only hurts the poor but is also inherently riddled with sin?
Statists complain that it’s just not fair that some people have more money while others have less. They want the state to equalize wealth by forcibly taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor.
Yet, ask yourself: What difference does it make that someone is wealthier than another person? It can make a difference in only one respect: When one falls victim to a grave sin enunciated in the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
And that is precisely what statists do when they say that it’s not fair for someone to have more when others have less. They are coveting the wealthy person’s wealth. They can’t stand the fact that he’s got a nicer home, automobile, television set, vacation home, and all the rest.
The sin is also called envy. Statists are envious of people who are richer than they are. They think it’s unfair.
And what is the process by which they achieve this equalization? Through stealing, another violation of one of God’s sacred commandments. They have the state use its power of coercion to seize the wealth of a rich person and then give it to a poor person (or to foreign dictator, as I pointed out in another segment of this series).
Oh sure, the stealing is legal but that certainly doesn’t make it moral.
Suppose I am coveting a billionaire’s wealth, saying that it’s just unfair that he has all that money when there are so many poor people in life. I accost him with a gun and force him to withdraw $100 million, which I give entirely to the poor.
What’s wrong with that? Aren’t I good person? Isn’t the billionaire a good person?
What’s wrong is it is that it constitutes stealing, another grave sin.
Statists say it’s different when the federal government takes the $100 million from the billionaire and gives it to the poor. But it’s not any different. Government cannot convert an immoral act into a moral act by committing it through the IRS or some other state agency. It remains stealing, pure and simple. The stealing is a direct consequence of the sins of envy and coveting.
The statists say that this is the way to help the poor — by having the government take money from the rich and giving it to the poor.
Actually, it’s the exact opposite. Socialism impoverishes a society. It’s the cause of poverty. It serves as the insurmountable obstacle to the poor going from rags to riches.
Look at Cuba, where the state took everything from the rich in order to give it to the poor. Or North Korea. What happened in those countries? Oh, it was fun and games for a while. That’s the way stealing works. The thief initially lives high off the hog — or the people who receive the loot do. But ultimately, society starts to cave in on itself. Less rich, and more poor, until everyone ends up poor.
The welfare state, of course, is just another variation of socialism — political stealing by having the government take from those who own and giving it to others (including foreign dictatorships). It might seem to work in the beginning but ultimately those on the dole increase and want more and more and more. The economy starts to cave in on itself.
Statists want to know the causes of poverty. That’s ridiculous. Poverty is the natural state of mankind. The real question is: What causes wealth — real wealth, not fake and bogus paper-money wealth? That the question statists never ask.
The answer:
First, capital, which comes about through savings, which makes workers more productive. More productivity brings higher standards of living.
Second, trade. When people are free to enter into mutually beneficial economic exchanges with others, their standard of living rises. That’s because in every trade people give up something they value less for something they value more.
There is also the fascist element to statist thinking — that is, having the government regulate, control, and direct economic activity.
Consider, for example, minimum-wage laws, one of the statists’ favorite government programs. It locks out of the labor market all those people whose labor is valued in the marketplace at less than the state-mandated wage rate. What happens to those people? They go unemployed. That’s why there is a permanent 40 percent unemployment rate for black teenagers. What about them? Statists say they can go on welfare. More likely, they enter the drug trade as a result of that other favorite statist program — the drug war.
When statists indict the American economic system, they claim that they’re indicting libertarianism and free markets. That’s a lie and a life of the lie. They are indicting their own economic philosophy — the philosophy of socialism and fascism — the economic system known as the welfare state and the regulated economy. That’s the economic system Americans have had since the New Deal in the 1930s.
The statist life of the lie is also reflected by the statist rendition on the Great Depression — that it supposedly was the failure of “free enterprise.” In actuality, it was the failure of statism, especially given that the Federal Reserve, whose policies brought on and worsened the Depression, is part of a statist system, not a libertarian system.
A libertarian economic system leaves people free to engage in any economic enterprise without a license or a permit, enter into mutually beneficial economic exchanges with others, keep the fruits of their earnings, and decide what to do with their own money. It treats immigrants humanely and in accordance with God’s second-greatest commandment. It doesn’t lure people into the drug trade and into penitentiaries. It doesn’t rely on envy, covetousness, and stealing.
Why would any Catholic want to be part of a system that covets and envies other people’s wealth, steals from them, condemns people to poverty, induces people into the drug trade, and abuses and mistreats poor people with an war on immigrants? How can such actions possibly be reconciled with anything Christ said or did?
They can’t be. Only libertarianism is consistent with Christian principles.
Catholics, Libertarians, and Coerced Charity by Jacob G. Hornberger
Catholics, Libertarians, and the Drug War by Jacob G. Hornberger
Catholics, Libertarians, and Immigration by Jacob G. Hornberger
Catholic, Libertarians, and Foreign Aid by Jacob G. Hornberger
Catholics, Libertarians, and Foreign Policy by Jacob G. Hornberger
Catholics, Libertarians, and the Poor by Jacob G. Hornberger

http://fff.org/2014/06/30/catholics-libertarians-and-the-poor/

Americans as 'vulnerable' to NSA surveillance as foreigners, despite Fourth Amendment

By manipulating Internet traffic to push American data outside of the country, the NSA can vacuum up vast amounts of US citizen data for intelligence purposes, a new report warns.
READ FULL STORYhttp://www.zdnet.com/americans-as-vulnerable-to-nsa-surveillance-as-foreigners-despite-fourth-amendment-7000031045/?s_cid=e589&ttag=e589&ftag=TREc64629f

Mideast Crises Provide Kremlin Opening


Mideast Crises Provide Kremlin Opening

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=eccfe5fcd268d2f33b066f0ea&id=172d46a701&e=b485367d33

Poor countries are not doomed to stay that way forever

Poor countries are not doomed to stay that way forever


http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/Poor-countries-are-not-doomed-to-stay/-/689364/2153136/-/iciohoz/-/index.html

Egypt makes another tilt at nuclear power

Egypt makes another tilt at nuclear power
President Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi named the El-Dabaa nuclear power among his priority national projects in his first speech following his inauguration.http://www.meed.com/sectors/economy/government/egypt-makes-another-tilt-at-nuclear-power/3193361.article

Caliph Ibrahim


http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2820afb1fbae0c99e88fb6f52&id=01200e8077&e=672f0b89c4

Web Arab News Digest

Caliph Ibrahim

ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has renamed itself "the Islamic State", and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been appointed its Caliph.

Caliph, from the Arabic Khalifa meaning successor, was the title of Islamic rulers after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate survived many historical vicissitudes and was eventually abolished when the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the First World War. But it is part of the Salafi perception of the pure and original form of Islamic rule, and has been much discussed as part of the ideology of al-Qa’ida and of many earlier Islamic revivalist movements. Although no Caliph since the seventh century has in fact ruled the whole Islamic world, the Salafi concept is that he should.

A document issued by the new Islamic State declares that the new Caliph's authority already embraces wide areas in Iraq and Sham (Syria or greater Syria), and that the land from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in eastern Iraq now submits to him, but claims that he has already received allegiance (bay’a) as "Imam and khalīfah for the Muslims everywhere… The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of [the caliphate’s] authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas." All other Islamic authorities are denounced as tawāghīt, a Koranic word usually taken to mean "false god" and translated in the document as "rulers claiming the rights of Allah".
 

Thank God for the Saudis': ISIS, Iraq, and the Lessons of Blowback - Atlantic Mobile


Thank God for the Saudis': ISIS, Iraq, and the Lessons of Blowback - Atlantic Mobile

Rania Hanano 9:15 AM (9 hours ago) to [Salon] http://m.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/isis-saudi-arabia-iraq-syria-bandar/373181/

Mideast peace impossible without international action


Mideast peace impossible without international action

It is time for the international community to empower those within Israel who want peace rather than colonization. 




The predicted “death” of the two-state solution, which has been repeated consistently for many years now, has led to a sense of complacency and a lack of urgency regarding the current situation. In the government of Israel, this does not provoke major concern, because the present coalition’s political platform is focused on consolidating colonization rather than achieving peace. This is a government that believes it can indefinitely maintain a system whereby one group of people is privileged and another oppressed.

World War I, Rather Than World War II, Is Key for U.S. Foreign Policy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/world-war-i-rather-than-w_b_5543998.html
  Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty, The Independent Institute

World War I, Rather Than World War II, Is Key for U.S. Foreign Policy

Posted: 06/30/2014
The 100-year anniversary of the most important event in the 20th century passed recently with predictably scant notice in the American media. The anniversary can't be that of the allied D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II, because that event happened only 70 years ago. And it's not the anniversaries of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the moon shot, or the 9/11 attacks.
On June 28, 1914, one hundred years ago, the Archduke Ferdinand -- to be the future ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire -- was gunned down by a Serbian-government sponsored assassination team. What? A few Americans might vaguely remember this incident from their high school social studies or history classes, but is it the most important event in the 20th century? Yes.

In Defense Of Rand Paul’s Iraq Stance

In Defense Of Rand Paul’s Iraq Stance

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during the inaugural Freedom Summit meeting for conservative speakers in Manchester, New Hampshire April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
If Mark Twain were alive, he would sermonize that there are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and Jennifer Rubin’s tirades against Senator Rand Paul’s foreign policy. Ms. Rubin’s latest unschooled and biased polemic appeared as a Washington Post blog post last week. She embarrasses the cerebral faculties like Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium.
Ms. Rubin clucks that in contrast to all other Sunday talk show dunces (who forecast flowers showering on United States soldiers in Baghdad), Mr. Paul does not awaken each night terrified that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will traverse the Atlantic Ocean to attack the United States and install a caliphate. But shouldn’t Senator Paul be applauded for remaining calm in the midst of another hallucinatory clamor to go abroad in search of monsters to destroy?

The US in the Middle East: Back to First Principles

The US in the Middle East: Back to First Principles

by Robert E. Hunter | http://www.lobelog.com/the-us-in-the-middle-east-back-to-first-principles/

What do we, the United States, need — as opposed to want — in the Middle East?
It’s no secret that the region is in a mess. But as Hamlet could have said about US responsibilities: “O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.”
There is, however, little point in outsiders’ offering the administration strategic or tactical advice on the immediate Iraqi crisis. As I have learned from service to three presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton, you are either in the government or you are not. If not, you cannot have a serious impact on the conduct of a critical situation, and commentary on television and in op-eds, even when insightful, will be ignored. Everyone in the government is too busy, focused on tactics, and wrapped up in the course of events and policy for external proposals. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld on the military and war, you manage a crisis with the people you’ve got.
Outsiders can only provide perspective for a time when leaders are less preoccupied with the day-to-day and are better able to reflect and devise coherent strategies to meet the Middle East’s enduring challenges.

Emily Wilson Interviews Grace Lee Boggs "Grace Lee Boggs, American Visionary"



Emily Wilson Interviews Grace Lee Boggs
"Grace Lee Boggs, American Visionary" -- At 99 years old, activist and author Grace Lee Boggs reflects on the last century of American history in a Truthdig interview as PBS prepares to air a new documentary about her storied life. "To understand revolution is twofold," she says. "It's not just changing institutions, it's changing ourselves.
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/grace_lee_boggs_american_revolution_20140626

"Pity the Children"

Chris Hedges on War
"Pity the Children" -- War brings with it a host of horrors, but the worst is what it does to children. The suffering of the young, perpetrated by those who carry weapons, exposes war's demented pathology.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/pity_the_children_20140630

Sam Pizzigati: America’s CEOs: In a Class All by Themselves

Sam Pizzigati: America’s CEOs: In a Class All by Themselves
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/30-3

Big Victory as Court Upholds Small Towns' Right to Ban Fracking

Big Victory as Court Upholds Small Towns' Right to Ban Fracking
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/06/30-5

The Supreme Court Deals Blow to Public Sector Unions




The Supreme Court Deals Blow To Public-Sector Unions

The Supreme Court on Monday limited the power of public-sector unions to...  Read»http://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-harris-v-quinn-unions-decision-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Mondays%202014-06-30&utm_content=emailshare

Obama announces he's bypassing Congress on Immigration Reform


OBAMA ANNOUNCES HE'S BYPASSING CONGRESS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM
OBAMA ANNOUNCES HE'S BYPASSING CONGRESS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

Saying he's grown frustrated with waiting for congressional Republicans...  Read»http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-statement-immigration-reform-executive-action-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Mondays%202014-06-30&utm_content=emailshare

TUNGUSKA: 106 Years Ago, A Mysterious Explosion 1000x More Powerful Than The Hiroshima Bomb Rocked Siberia

TUNGUSKA: 106 Years Ago, A Mysterious Explosion 1000x More Powerful Than The Hiroshima Bomb Rocked Siberia

Unsolved mystery.
Read»http://www.businessinsider.com/tunguska-an-mysterious-explosion-rocked-siberia-104-years-ago-today-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Mondays%202014-06-30&utm_content=emailshare

Why America’s Military Dominance Is Fading

Why America’s Military Dominance Is Fading

06/30/14
Mackenzie Eaglen
State of the Military, United States

In the long run, Congress’ inability to change the status quo is eroding the military’s readiness for the next fight and mortgaging the future for the present.

It is often said Congress hates to cut or cancel weapons systems, usually for reasons relating to jobs and elections back home. But the record shows that Congress is much more likely to curtail new equipment purchases for the military rather than get rid of or retire the old stuff.
This tendency is increasingly problematic for the U.S. military. In many capability sets and domains, the traditional margins of U.S. military technological supremacy are declining across the services. Too often, policy makers think of this as an emerging challenge that can be dealt with in the coming years. But, as has been documented previously and stated by many senior Pentagon officials over the past year, America’s declining military superiority is now a “here-now” problem.
Frank Kendall, undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, recently said, “I’m very concerned about eroding technological superiority and where we’re headed. […] We’ve had 20 years since the end of the Cold War [and] sort of a presumption in the United States that we are technologically superior militarily. I don’t think that that’s a safe assumption. In fact, I think that we’ve gotten complacent about that and we’ve been distracted for the last ten years fighting counterinsurgencies.”
U.S. Pacific Command chief Admiral Sam Locklear reiterated the same point recently, noting “Our historic dominance that most of us in this room have enjoyed is diminishing, no question.”
Now that defense budgets are in their fourth year coming down, this preference to fund the old is increasingly coming at the expense of the new. Paying for yesterday’s equipment is not a static or one-time bill. This is one that only grows as equipment ages and gets more expensive to maintain. These restrictions are starting to hurt investment in innovation and tomorrow’s forces and their battlefield edge. 
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-america%E2%80%99s-military-dominance-fading-10772

Germany's Superpower Quest Caused World War I

Germany's Superpower Quest Caused World War I

06/30/14
Michael Lind
History, Europe

"The major cause of World War I was Imperial Germany’s determination to become a “world power” or superpower by crippling Russia and France in what it hoped would be a brief and decisive war, like the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71." 

Editor's Note: Please also see Michael Peck's recent article How Germany Could Have Won World War I
The centenary of the beginning of World War I has revealed a deep divide between perceptions of the war held by the general public and historians, at least in the English-speaking world.  Pundits and commentators and politicians routinely opine that World War I was a needless and unavoidable catastrophe, variously attributed to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, runaway arms races, imperialism in general, or “sleepwalking” politicians who stumbled blindly into catastrophe.  The general impression among the broader public is that nobody in particular was to blame for the greatest conflagration in world history before the Second World War.  Literary and cinematic masterpieces like Remargue’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Kubrick’s Path’s of Glory have reinforced the perception that the conflict proved the absurdity of war.  The lesson is that war is like catastrophic climate change—a destructive force that must be avoided and for which everyone is partly to blame.
In the Anglophone world, this popular interpretation of World War I has deep roots in strains of isolationism, the international peace campaigns of the early twentieth century, and, not least, Woodrow Wilson’s call for a “peace without victory.”  In the European Union, treating World War I as the product of abstract forces like arms races or nationalism is doubtlessly useful in minimizing national animosities. 
Read full article

Sunday, June 29, 2014

China's external financial assets surpass 6 trln USD - Xinhua

China's external financial assets surpass 6 trln USD - Xinhua China's external financial assets reached 6.13 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of March this year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Wednesday. External liabilities stood at about 4.14 trillion U.S. dollars by then, the foreign exchange regulator said in a statement on its website. China's direct investment overseas was 621.5 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 10 percent of external financial assets while reserve assets were registered at 4.01 trillion U.S. dollars, 65 percent of the total amount, the statement said. As regards foreign liabilities, foreign direct investment in China was 2.42 trillion U.S. dollars, 58 percent of the total, the statement said.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-06/25/c_133437931.htm?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d03df4f18e-Sinocism06_30_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d03df4f18e-29615013&mc_cid=d03df4f18e&mc_eid=5935182a65

New Megacity to Include Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei With Population of 130 Million | Nanfang Insider


New Megacity to Include Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei With Population of 130 Million | Nanfang Insider The announcement of the new ring road is part of a very complicated proposed transportation network concisely summarized with the numerically-significant name “28488″. This transportation network will serve as the backbone linking cities of the three areas together. Furthermore, Gao called for more light rail and subway lines to be extended to Hebei. Caijing predicts the transportation grid serving Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to be fully inter-connected by 2020. The idea of a Beijing supercity is sure to bring dividends if successful. SCMP describes President Xi Jinping’s ambition to turn the urban areas of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin and its 130 million people into a single megacity as Xi’s “legacy” project. Estimates place the price of amalgamation to be  RMB 42 trillion.http://www.thenanfang.com/blog/new-megacity-to-include-beijing-tianjin-and-hubei-with-population-of-130-million/?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d03df4f18e-Sinocism06_30_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d03df4f18e-29615013&mc_cid=d03df4f18e&mc_eid=5935182a65

China’s Xi Urges Asian Security Framework to Counter U.S.


China’s Xi Urges Asian Security Framework to Counter U.S.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-28/china-s-xi-urges-asian-security-framework-to-counter-u-s-.html?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d03df4f18e-Sinocism06_30_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d03df4f18e-29615013&mc_cid=d03df4f18e&mc_eid=5935182a65

US: Jordan may ask Israel to go to war against ISIL

US: Jordan may ask Israel to go to war against ISIL:
Once the jihadi group turns its attention to the Hashemite kingdom, Jerusalem may be drawn into the fray, administration officials say

Report: US fears Israel would be dragged into war with ISIS


Report: US fears Israel would be dragged into war with ISIS:
Obama administration concerned that jihadist group, that already seized control of parts of Iraq, Syria, will try to invade Jordan. Israeli diplomats say country prepared to take military action to save Hashemite Kingdom

ISIS declares creation of Islamic state in Middle East, 'new era of international jihad'


ISIS declares creation of Islamic state in Middle East, 'new era of international jihad':
ISIS jihadists have declared the captured territories from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo a new Islamic State - a 'caliphate.' They removed 'Iraq and the Levant' from their name and urged other radical Sunni groups to pledge their allegiance.

GOLDMAN ISSUES WARNING: The US Congress Is On The Verge Of Screwing Up The Economy All Over Again












GOLDMAN ISSUES WARNING: The US Congress Is On The Verge Of Screwing Up The Economy All Over Again





  Read»

America's Crumbling Infrastructure: Bridging the Gap




America's Crumbling Infrastructure: Bridging The Gap
America's Crumbling Infrastructure: Bridging The Gap

America's roads are getting worse and there's no money to fix them.  Read»http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-crumbling-infrastructure-bridging-the-gap-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Weekend%202014-06-29&utm_content=emailshare

Sorry, Folks, Rich People Don't Create The Jobs

http://www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-dont-create-jobs-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Weekend%202014-06-29&utm_content=emailshare

U.S.: What Is the Greatest Threat of Them All?


U.S.: What Is the Greatest Threat of Them All?

  • June 29, 2014
by Jim Lobe*
This month’s stunning campaign by Sunni insurgents led by the radical Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) against the mainly Shi’a government of Iraqi President Nouri Al-Maliki is stoking a growing debate here about the hierarchy of threats facing the United States in the Middle East and beyond.http://www.lobelog.com/category/hawks-on-iran/

Kerry's futile search for moderates

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/iraq-crisis-john-kerrys-search-for-moderates-is-five-years-late-9570460.html

Who Violated Ukraine’s Sovereignty?


Who Violated Ukraine’s Sovereignty?


Exclusive: The West has accused Russia of violating a 1994 pledge to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for its surrender of Soviet-era nuclear weapons. But the West’s political and economic interference might also represent a violation, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
http://consortiumnews.com
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/06/28/who-violated-ukraines-sovereignty/

Inequality Begins at Birth Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books

Inequality Begins at Birth Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Bookshttp://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/jun/26/inequality-begins-at-birth/

Obama to seek $2 billion to stem surge of Central American immigrants Los Angeles Times

Obama to seek $2 billion to stem surge of Central American immigrants Los Angeles Timeshttp://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-80667266/

Drone Dogfight: Big Defense vs. Techies Wall Street Journal

Drone Dogfight: Big Defense vs. Techies Wall Street Journalhttp://online.wsj.com/articles/drone-dogfight-big-defense-firms-versus-techies-1403891039

Harris v. Quinn: Will the Supreme Court Abolish Public Sector Unions on Monday


Harris v. Quinn: Will the Supreme Court Abolish Public Sector Unions on Monday

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/06/harris-v-quinn-will-supreme-court-abolish-public-sector-unions-monday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

On the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

On the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

"Saint Peter and Saint Paul, so different from each other on a human level, were personally chosen by the Lord Jesus and they responded to the call offering their whole lives"


http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-the-feast-of-saints-peter-and-paul

Liberals Delude Themselves About the Tea Party

Liberals Delude Themselves About the Tea Party


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/06/29/liberals_delude_themselves_about_the_tea_party_123147.html

A New Recession and a New World Devoid of Washington’s Arrogance?


A New Recession and a New World Devoid of Washington’s Arrogance?

http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/06/26/a-new-recession-and-a-new-world-devoid-of-washingtons-arrogance/

Disrupting Hillary

Disrupting Hillary



http://fpif.org/disrupting-hillary/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disrupting-hillary

China yuan moving up the world currency ranks and shifting to a strengthening trend

China yuan moving up the world currency ranks and shifting to a strengthening trend


http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/06/china-yuan-moving-up-world-currency.html

Selective Sympathy in Israel/Palestine

Selective Sympathy in Israel/Palestine

June 28, 2014

The mainstream U.S. media often reveals its bias by selecting some personal tragedies for saturation coverage while downplaying or ignoring similar horrors to “others,” such as the massive attention given to the search for three kidnapped Israeli teens, as Lawrence Davidson observes.
By Lawrence Davidson | http://consortiumnews.com/2014/06/28/selective-sympathy-in-israelpalestine/

Guess the only country that spends more on export finance than the US

THE OTHER GLOBAL COMPETITION

Guess the only country that spends more on export finance than the US

Obamacare: Massive backlog stalls Medi-Cal expansion


Obamacare: Massive backlog stalls Medi-Cal expansion


http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_26053781/obamacare-massive-backlog-stalls-medi-cal-expansion

Obamacare means opportunity for insurers

Obamacare means opportunity for insurers


http://wqad.com/2014/06/27/obamacare-means-opportunity-for-insurers/

Tomgram: Juan Cole, Waiting for the Arab Summer

The Arab Millennials Will Be Back
Three Ways the Youth Rebellions Are Still Shaping the Middle East
By Juan Cole
Three and a half years ago, the world was riveted by the massive crowds of youths mobilizing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand an end to Egypt’s dreary police state.  We stared in horror as, at one point, the Interior Ministry mobilized camel drivers to attack the demonstrators.  We watched transfixed as the protests spread from one part of Egypt to another and then from country to country across the region.  Before it was over, four presidents-for-life would be toppled and others besieged in their palaces.
Some 42 months later, in most of the Middle East and North Africa, the bright hopes for more personal liberties and an end to political and economic stagnation championed by those young people have been dashed.  Instead, a number of Arab countries have seen counter-revolutions, while others are engulfed in internecine conflicts and civil wars, creating Mad Max-like scenes of post-apocalyptic horror.  But keep one thing in mind: the rebellions of the past three years were led by Arab millennials, twentysomethings who have decades left to come into their own.  Don’t count them out yet.  They have only begun the work of transforming the region.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175862/tomgram%3A_juan_cole%2C_waiting_for_the_arab_summer/#more

China's South China Sea Strategy: Win the Perception Battle

China's South China Sea Strategy: Win the Perception Battle

06/28/14
Harry J. Kazianis
South China Sea, China
Editor's Note: The following article first appeared at the University of Nottingham's China Policy Institute blog here
With the United States once again preoccupied with events in the Middle East China has made another strategic adjustment to its claims in the South China Sea. It seems clear by now that Beijing has found a new way to bolster its position in what Stratfor analyst Robert D. Kaplan has dubbed Asia’s Cauldron. China’s plan: why provoke your neighbors with raw military might, or the outright taking of claimed territory, when you can use oil rigs and maps to achieve the same strategic aims?
While China’s crafty placement of an oil rig off Vietnam’s coast—with fears several more might be in the offing—has been in the news for the past month or so, it is Beijing’s latest ploy that should make Asia watchers more concerned.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/chinas-south-china-sea-strategy-win-the-perception-battle-10776

Ukraine's Ancient Hatreds

Ukraine's Ancient Hatreds

06/29/14
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
History, Grand Strategy, Ukraine, Russia, Europe

Three hundred years of history explain why Putin can never see his neighbor as a fully legitimate sovereign nation.

IN 1708, Charles XII of Sweden invaded Ukraine. His aim was to use it as a base for a final advance on Peter the Great’s Moscow. The Cossack hetman, Ivan Mazeppa, decided to throw his lot in with the Swedes in a bid to secure Ukraine’s complete independence. His decision split the Cossacks; while some followed Mazeppa, others elected a new leader, Ivan Skoropadsky, who reaffirmed his loyalty to the Cossack alliance with Russia. The following year, Charles was defeated by Peter at the climactic Battle of Poltava, Russia emerged as a player in European affairs, Ukraine was brought under closer control by the imperial government and Mazeppa fled into exile.
Was he a traitor who received his just rewards for his perfidy? Or was he a freedom fighter? The former is a more prevalent attitude in eastern Ukraine as well as the dominant narrative in Russia itself. The Russian Orthodox Church thus anathematized Mazeppa for breaking his oath of loyalty to Peter, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which remains affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, continues to refuse to lift this sentence. Mazeppa is held up as an example of traitors who would sunder the unity of the East Slavic peoples. For Ukrainians who seek to join the Euro-Atlantic community, conversely, Mazeppa is a tragic hero who failed to bring Ukraine out from under Russian domination through an alliance with Western powers. His portrait graces the Ukrainian ten-hryvnia note. (Keep in mind that neither Benedict Arnold nor Robert E. Lee can be found on U.S. money.) However, a street named in his honor in Kiev was changed after the government of Viktor Yanukovych came to power in 2010.http://nationalinterest.org/feature/ukraines-ancient-hatreds-10736
Read full article

Five Revolutionary Soviet Weapons of War That Never Happened

Five Revolutionary Soviet Weapons of War That Never Happened

06/29/14
Robert Farley
State of the Military, Defense, History, Russia

Thankfully many of these “wonder weapons” remained safely in the realm of imagination, for both the USSR and its adversaries.

For nearly seven decades, the defense-industrial complex of the Soviet Union went toe-to-toe with the best firms that the West had to offer.  In some cases, it surprised the West with cheap, innovative, effective systems.  In others, it could barely manage to put together aircraft that could remain in the air, and ships that could stay at sea.
No single weapon could have saved the Soviet Union, but several might have shifted the contours of its collapse. The relationship between technology and the “human” elements of war, including doctrine and organization, is complex.  Decisions about isolated systems can have far reaching implications for how a nation defends itself.
As with last week’s list, weapons are often cancelled for good reason.  Events intercede in ways that focus a nation’s attention on its true interests and needs, rather than on the pursuit of glory and prestige.  In the Soviet case, many of the “wonder weapons” remained safely in the realm of imagination, both for the enemies of the USSR, and the USSR itself. 
Sovetsky Soyuz class battleship
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/five-revolutionary-soviet-weapons-war-never-happened-10771

A New Strategy Proposal Needed to Defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria

An stimulatingly unconventional perspective....

http://mebriefing.com/?p=849

A New Strategy Proposal Needed to Defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria

In one typical example of the advice offered to President Obama’s administration in regard to the deteriorating situation in Iraq and Syria, one of the “experts” in Washington recently said, “[the president’s] strategy has to start with this: who’s the real threat in that part of the world now? And the answer is, in Syria, it’s the jihadis. And in Iraq, it’s the jihadis. So we’ve got to look for allies to confront that threat. That’s the most serious thing. And in Syria, it means cooperating in some fashion with the guys we don’t like and eventually want to get rid of, namely President Bashar al-Assad, and requires working as well with Iran and Russia, who also oppose the jihadis in Syria.

Iraq crisis pushing Obama toward alliance with Syria and Iran

Iraq crisis pushing Obama toward alliance with Syria and Iran

Does Washington have the will and wherewithal to forsake the 'moderate opposition' in favor of new dialogue with the Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian regimes?



U.S. President Barack Obama made clear his lack of policy on Syria recently in an interview with CBS News in the United States. "The notion that [the Syrian opposition was] in a position to overturn not only Assad but also ruthless, highly trained jihadists if we just sent a few arms is a fantasy,” he said,
It seems Obama was right: sending “a few arms” to the “moderate opposition” wouldn’t have helped, but that wasn’t what the opposition requested.

Tomgram: Juan Cole, Waiting for the Arab Summer Posted by Juan Cole

Tomgram: Juan Cole, Waiting for the Arab Summer
Posted by Juan Cole When it comes to pure ineptness, it’s been quite a performance -- and I’m sure you’ve already guessed that I’m referring to our secretary of state’s recent jaunt to the Middle East.  You remember the old quip about jokes and timing.  (It’s all in the...)  In this case, John Kerry turned the first stop on his Middle Eastern tour into a farce, thanks to impeccably poor timing.  He landed in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s Egypt to put the Obama stamp of approval on the former general’s new government and what he called “a historic election.”  This was a reference to the way Sisi became president, with a mind-boggling 97% of the votes (or so the official story went).  Kerry also promised to release $575 million in military aid frozen by Congress and threw in 10 Apache attack helicopters in what can only be seen as a pathetic attempt to bribe the Egyptian military.  Having delivered the goods, he evidently went into negotiations with Sisi without the leverage they might have offered him.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175862/tomgram%3A_juan_cole%2C_waiting_for_the_arab_summer

Friday, June 27, 2014

Panel Warns of ‘Unintended Consequences’ of U.S. Drone Policy

Panel Warns of ‘Unintended Consequences’ of U.S. Drone Policy
by Thomas Gibbons-Neff
Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/panel-warns-of-unintended-consequences-of-us-drone-policy/2014/06/26/b41a162c-fd6b-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html

Iraq Vets Ask: Was It Worth It?


Iraq Vets Ask: Was It Worth It?
by Kelley Vlahos
American Conservativehttp://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/iraq-vets-ask-was-it-worth-it/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iraq-vets-ask-was-it-worth-it

Iraq and the Echoes of Vietnam

Iraq and the Echoes of Vietnam
by Steve Chapman
Washington Examinerhttp://washingtonexaminer.com/iraq-and-the-echoes-of-vietnam/article/2550219

Catholics, Libertarians, and Foreign Policy

Catholics, Libertarians, and Foreign Policy

by
It would be difficult to find a better example of the difference between statists and libertarians than foreign policy. It is this realm that confronts the Catholic with an extremely important choice: “Will I exercise the free will that God has given me by choosing to participate in or support a direct violation of God’s sacred commandment — Thou Shalt Not Murder — or will I instead be a libertarian and oppose the violation of God’s sacred commandment.
Iraq provides an excellent example of the choice facing Catholics.http://fff.org/2014/06/27/catholics-libertarians-and-foreign-policy/

CFR Daily New Brief Update 6/27 purred by Iraq, U.S. to Boost Support for Syrian Rebels

Council on Foreign Relations Daily News Brief
June 27, 2014

Top of the Agenda

Spurred by Iraq, U.S. to Boost Support for Syrian Rebels
The United States moved toward a joint Iraq-Syria policy, recognizing the two conflicts are intertwined, as U.S. secretary of state John Kerry arrived in Jeddah on Friday to consult with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, the Syrian opposition's most prominent backer, and Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Jarba (Daily Star). His visit comes a day after U.S. president Barack Obama requested that Congress appropriate $500 million to train and arm "appropriately vetted" members of the Syrian opposition forces (NYT), which would mark a significant elevation of U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war. However, military and State Department officials said specific plans had not yet been drawn up. The proposal, which has been awaited since Obama's West Point commencement address in late May, was accompanied by an additional $1 billion to help stabilize Syria's neighbors (AP).

Analysis

"ISIS has a bad track record at institutionalizing local alliances, but the possibility still exists because the Maliki government's unwillingness to broaden the space for Sunni political participation makes ISIS' job far easier. Even Sunnis who are skeptical of the radical Islamists or believe they can use and then dispense with them may end up caught between an uncompromising regime and a formidable ISIS. If ISIS has learned from its bloody past, it will avoid picking unnecessary fights with these Sunni factions and instead try to slowly integrate them into its own structures. For American and Iraqi policymakers, time is of the essence: the longer ISIS can take advantage of this lack of other Sunni options, the more likely it is to transform into a resilient armed presence," writes Paul Staniland for Political Violence at a Glance.
"Syrian rebels opposed to ISIS have pointed in the past to the apparent hesitation of Mr Assad's forces to attack ISIS as proof of its tacit co-operation with the regime to weaken other rebel groups. But the radical jihadists' gains in Iraq, including its capture of arms and cash, are now tilting some Syrian rebel groups back towards wanting to ally with ISIS. Some local rebel militias in eastern Syria are now said to be declaring their allegiance to it. In any case, the collapse of Mr Maliki's forces in northern and western Iraq appears to have persuaded the Syrian government, perhaps with urgings from its close ally, Iran, to take the threat of ISIS more seriously," writes the Economist.
"Sealing off Syria's external borders -- and its internal one with the Kurdish region -- would help contain jihadist groups and interdict ISIS suicide operators coming to Iraq while the United States works with the Iraqi government to win over moderate Sunnis and, possibly, launches drone strikes against ISIS positions. This could be bolstered through the creation of a U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force to coordinate cross-border operations. Meanwhile, allying with the Arab tribes on both sides of the border will undermine ISIS support in its key Sunni Arab demographic. This could result in a foreign policy twofer, helping address both the current situation in Iraq and Syria and the broader jihadist threat over the long term," writes Andrew Tabler in Foreign Affairs.

Obama Asks Congress for $500 Million to Train Syrian Rebels



Obama Asks Congress for $500 Million to Train Syrian Rebels // Kaveh Waddell

The president delivered on a promise he made during his foreign policy speech at West Point in May -- when the situation in Iraq looked very different than it does today. By Kaveh Waddell http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2014/06/obama-asks-congress-500-million-train-syrian-rebels/87409/?oref=defenseone_today_nl