Is Iran the Leader of a Shia International?

http://www.lobelog.com/is-iran-the-leader-of-a-shia-international/#more-27931

by Shireen Hunter
The Shias of Yemen, who now control the capital city of Sanaa, are threatening to take political power by force if negotiations for a power-sharing agreement fail. These advances by the Zaidi Shias—variously known as the Houtis after the name of their first leader Hussein Badreddin Al Houti, or Ansar Ullah, as they prefer to be called—have again raised the specter of a so-called Shia Crescent.
This time, however, the fear of a Shia Crescent has been accompanied by talk of a rising Iranian Empire, based on the assumption that Iran controls the Shias throughout the world. For example, some commentators have mentioned that Iran now controls four capitals in the Middle East: Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, and now Sanaa.
In addition to the fact that Iran is not in control of these capitals, such comments display a stunning ignorance of Shiism and its various sects. Similarly, such commentators do not seem to be aware that politics in places with substantial Shia populations are not primarily determined by religious factors. Ethnicity, language, and issues of power and influence play much more important roles. http://www.lobelog.com/is-iran-the-leader-of-a-shia-international/#more-27931

Exclusive: Secret tapes undermine Hillary Clinton on Libyan war

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/28/hillary-clinton-undercut-on-libya-war-by-pentagon-/

Wall Street Pays Bankers to Work in Government And It Doesn't Want Anyone to Know

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120967/wall-street-pays-bankers-work-government-and-wants-it-secret

Genghis Khan-style Cruelty of Isis By Robert Fisk

  

Genghis Khan-style Cruelty of Isis

By Robert Fisk

The tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims who had demanded the pilot be freed now know what their fellow Muslims in Syria and Iraq had in mind for him.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40892.htm

Folly of US "War on Terror" Looms as Jordan and ISIS Exchange Executions

Folly of US "War on Terror" Looms as Jordan and ISIS Exchange Executions
by Jon Queally
Though many Jordanians have expressed criticism against the nation's monarchy government for participating in the U.S.-led war on the Islamic State (aka ISIS or ISIL), analysts vary on their assessment about how the execution of the pilot, who was burned alive, will shift public sentiment and impact the overall war which has ensnared the Middle East.http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/04/folly-us-war-terror-looms-jordan-and-isis-exchange-executions

Set the Trojan Horse on Fire

As Serbian influence creeps back into Kosovo, protests have rocked the young nation -- and may bring its government to a grinding halt.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/04/set-the-trojan-horse-on-fire-kosovo-serbia-protests-mining/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=*Editors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2014_EditorsPicks_Promo_Russia_Direct_Feb2-6RS02%2F04

Guest Post from James Bovard Redneck ethnic cleansing recalled

Redneck ethnic cleansing recalled

Folks sometimes wonder why U.S. foreign aid projects routinely fail.  Perhaps the lesson can be found barely an hour outside the Beltway.   When the government decides to launch massive projects, often the first thing thrown overboard is justice and due process.  And, as happened in the creation of the Shenandoah National Park, politicians and bureaucrats routinely vilify their victims.

From my review essay -
"Few things vanish from public memory more quickly than government atrocities... The seizure of 176,000 acres for the [Shenandoah National] park provoked court battles that helped establish politicians’ right to seize private property for any purpose they proclaimed. In the subsequent decades, the same legal doctrines sanctified expelling more than a million urban residents from their homes. The dictatorial creation of the Shenandoah National Park is a warning that government cannot ravage property rights without ruining lives far and wide."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/4/book-review-shenandoah-a-story-of-conservation-and/

The tablet market is in serious trouble

http://www.businessinsider.com/global-tablet-sales-declined-for-the-first-time-ever-in-q4-2014-2015-2?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Tech%20Chart%20Of%20The%20Day&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%20The%20tablet%20market%20is%20in%20serious%20trouble&utm_content=COTD

Russia has announced plans for joint military drills with North Korea

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-wants-military-drills-with-north-korea-2015-2#ixzz3QonmK2a8

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-wants-military-drills-with-north-korea-2015-2?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

  More: China Foreign Direct Investment Debt

China has crossed a major investment threshold that is going to change the entire world

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-on-chinas-investment-abroad-2015-2#ixzz3QonOpoLs

http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-on-chinas-investment-abroad-2015-2?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

Jailed al Qaeda operative makes explosive claims about Saudi royals funding pre-9/11 terror

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jailed-al-qaeda-operative-makes-explosive-claims-about-saudi-royals-funding-pre-911-terror-2015-2#ixzz3Qomst5D8

http://www.businessinsider.com/jailed-al-qaeda-operative-makes-explosive-claims-about-saudi-royals-funding-pre-911-terror-2015-2?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Wednesday%20Friday%29%202015-02-04&utm_content=BISelect

Robert Barron, YouTube evangelist, lifts up Catholicism’s good, true and beautiful

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/02/04/robert-barron-youtube-evangelist-lifts-catholicisms-good-true-beautiful/#comment-4016085

Technology’s next 25 years belong to the world, not the US

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b70a9ff8-a8a3-11e4-ad01-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3QoZMRtPN

Arm Ukraine and You Risk Another Black Hawk Down

Arm Ukraine and You Risk Another Black Hawk Down

Read more at: http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/02/03/arm-ukraine-and-you-risk-another-black-hawk-down

http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/02/03/arm-ukraine-and-you-risk-another-black-hawk-down

Zero gain in Ukraine by William Pfaff

http://www.williampfaff.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=713

Twisting Diplomacy to Hurt Iran

Neocon-domination of Official Washington continues to put an eminently reachable deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program in jeopardy because the neocons favor bombing Iran on a path for “regime change.” But their obstructionism hurts U.S. interests, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
By Paul R. Pillar https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/03/twisting-diplomacy-to-hurt-iran/

Arm Ukraine and You Risk Another Black Hawk Down

Arm Ukraine and You Risk Another Black Hawk Down -...

carnegieendowment.org/2015/02/03/arm-ukraine-and-you...

The Kissinger primary

The Kissinger primary

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/henry-kissinger-2016-election-114885.html

Examining the Stasi, Seeing the NSA

Examining the Stasi, Seeing the NSA

Exclusive: For many years, the East German Stasi was viewed as the most totalitarian of intelligence services, relentlessly spying on its citizens during the Cold War. But the Stasi’s capabilities pale in comparison to what the NSA can now do, notes former U.S. intelligence analyst Elizabeth Murray.

By Elizabeth Murray | February 3 2015

On a chilly morning in late January 2015,  an unlikely assortment of former U.S. and U.K. intelligence officers gathered at the former headquarters of the Stasi — the former East Germany’s Ministerium fuer Staatssicherheit  [Ministry of State Security] — for a tour of Berlin’s “Stasi Museum.”

The delegation – which included ex-officers from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and British MI5, who count themselves among the members of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) – had traveled to Berlin to confer the 2015 Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence on former NSA senior technical director-turned-whistleblower William Binney, for his role in exposing the extent of mass surveillance of ordinary citizens in the United States.

In accepting the award, Binney said he resigned from the NSA in 2001 after realizing that the agency was “purposefully violating the Constitution” with its “bulk acquisition of data against U.S. citizens … first against U.S. citizens by the way — not foreigners.”https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/03/examining-the-stasi-seeing-the-nsa/

North Korea strikes down US talks, vows 'final doom'

North Korea strikes down US talks, vows 'final doom'
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_strikes_down_US_talks_vows_final_doom_999.html

Global Health Ebola Update 2/4

EBOLA

Pleas, Pledges, but Where’s the Money?
Only about a third of the nearly $2.9 billion pledged to fight Ebola had actually reached the region by 2014’s end, according to research led by Karen Grepin, a global health policy expert at New York University.

Measuring only ** funds tracked by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=7a1f65819f&e=9c1fcebfa3)
, she provides a timeline of the funding pleas, pledges and actual flow of funds.

Although pledges from international donors since September 2014 have exceeded official requests, actual disbursement of funds “…still lags behind the total amount requested,” Grepin writes. She hopes that tracking funding data could prompt development of new mechanisms to speed up disbursements could help in future crises.
** British Medical Journal (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=6f1931190c&e=9c1fcebfa3)


Related: Ebola, Colonialism, and the History of International Aid Organizations in Africa – ** Library of Congress Blogs (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=c567fede00&e=9c1fcebfa3)


Related: MSF Warns Critical Gaps Remain in Ebola Fight – ** VOA (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=7ac8dd8c94&e=9c1fcebfa3)

Related: Finding Homes for Ebola's Orphans – ** National Geographic (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=32d5b18089&e=9c1fcebfa3)

The Case for Why Economic Development Is Making Nigeria More Dangerous - Defense One

The Case for Why Economic Development Is Making Nigeria More Dangerous - Defense One

The Cost of Disowning Jimmy Carter

What Democrats lose when they run from his foreign policy legacy.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-cost-of-disowning-jimmy-carter-20150130

Aftershocks: The Political Fallout of Greece’s Economic Crisis

Supporters of Greece’s radical leftist party Syriza rally in Athens as European Union voters cast ballots in European Parliament elections, May 22, 2014 (Kyodo via AP Images).

By Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos, Nov. 18, 2014

This year, while the eurozone’s economy is grinding to a halt, the Greek economy may be able to grow by 0.6 percent, after six years in a row of recession. Greece follows the example of other countries of Europe’s periphery, such as Portugal and Spain, which after several years of recession are at last experiencing slim growth. Having almost defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2010, Greece has been bailed out through an economic adjustment program, the implementation of which is still closely monitored by the so-called troika of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The adjustment program was specified in 2010 in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and loan agreements signed between Greece and its creditors.

Under the agreements, the Greek government committed to fiscal consolidation and structural reforms in exchange for low-interest loans and quickly proceeded to make abrupt and deep cuts in wages, salaries, pensions and social spending, and to steep raises in income and wealth taxes. This year, having achieved its fiscal targets, the government announced its desire to exit the adjustment program in 2015. But in October 2014, the international markets reacted negatively to this prospect. The Athens stock exchange witnessed a rapid sell-off, while Greek 10-year government bond yields almost doubled within the span of a few days. While Greece is farther away from the abyss than it was four years ago, it may not yet be fit to navigate the rough seas of the global economy alone. . . . READ THE RESThttp://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/14480/aftershocks-the-political-fallout-of-greece-s-economic-crisis?utm_source=Weekly+Headlines&utm_campaign=d2c8d59a58-free-to-weekly-020315&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e36cc98fd-d2c8d59a58-62711729

 

The Liberal in Singapore: A Harmonic Convergence?

http://foxhedgehog.com/2015/02/the-liberal-in-singapore-a-harmonic-convergence/

The New Asian Order And How the United States Fits In

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142843/evan-a-feigenbaum/the-new-asian-order

The New Asian Order

And How the United States Fits In

By Evan A. Feigenbaum

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

In November 2012, I found myself at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai—one of a tiny handful of Americans attending a forum, sponsored by prominent Indian and Chinese business organizations, on Asian financial integration.

There is something a bit unsettling about being nearly the only American at a discussion of financial order held not on the Potomac, East, Hudson, or Thames, but near the banks of the Mithi River. And surely there is something deeply symbolic about a forlorn group of Americans listening to power brokers from China, India, Japan, and elsewhere discuss how to remake the financial order on a pan-Asian basis. After all, the United States has dominated global finance in the postwar era, which is a byproduct of the unique role of the U.S. dollar, the United States’ weight in global institutions, and the best-in-class status of so many U.S. financial services firms, among other factors. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142843/evan-a-feigenbaum/the-new-asian-order

The Super-Rich Can’t Hide From the Rest of Us by Michael Winship

The Super-Rich Can’t Hide From the Rest of Us

by

Michael Winship

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/02/03/super-rich-cant-hide-rest-us

Netanyahu’s Speech and the Politics of Iran Policy by Gareth Porter

Netanyahu’s Speech and the Politics of Iran Policy

by Gareth Porter
http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2015/02/02/netanyahus-speech-and-the-politics-of-iran-policy/

U.S.-Russia Clash in Ukraine?

http://buchanan.org/blog/u-s-russia-clash-in-ukraine-15550

Fact-checking Bibi and Company’s Talking Points on Iran

by Marsha B. Cohen  |  http://www.lobelog.com/fact-checking-bibi-and-companys-talking-points-on-iran/#more-27845
2 February 2015

There’s been considerable media buzz in the past several days about Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer’s role in engineering an invitation from Republican leaders for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address both Houses of Congress about Iran. Dermer’s partisan machinations deliberately excluded the White House and State Department from any knowledge of the invitation.
Israeli sources report that Dermer “has turned himself into persona non grata” within the Obama administration. Word is also getting out that Israel’s Civil Service Commission has reprimanded Dermer for engaging in prohibited political campaigning on Netanyahu’s behalf and using the American media to score points for his boss. Netanyahu is scheduled to speak before Congress on March 3, two weeks before Israel’s parliamentary elections.
The real story, however, is that Dermer has already leaked the core of Netanyahu’s likely invective against Iran. In a speech to an Israel Bonds fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida on January 25—the text of which he posted to Facebook immediately afterwards—Dermer leveled a litany of accusations against Iran. He repeated several of these charges in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic on January 30, intoning that Netanyahu had a “moral obligation” to address Congress “while there is still time.”http://www.lobelog.com/fact-checking-bibi-and-companys-talking-points-on-iran/#more-27845

Congress Takes Aim At the Palestinians

by Mitchell Plitnick
February 3rd, 2015 | http://www.lobelog.com/congress-takes-aim-at-the-palestinians/#more-27915

The imbroglio over House Speaker John Boehner’s unseemly invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last month is continuing to rage in Washington. But when it comes to the Palestinians, it is business as usual in Congress.
On February 4, the House of Representatives’ Sub-Committee on the Middle East and North Africa will hold a hearing on suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority as punishment for their temerity in exercising their legal right to bring their grievances against Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The sub-committee, chaired by hawk Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), has stacked the deck well against the Palestinians.http://www.lobelog.com/congress-takes-aim-at-the-palestinians/#more-27915

The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment

by Jim Clifton (Chairman and CEO at Gallup)  | http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lie-unemployment.aspx

February 3, 2015

Here's something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.
Right now, we're hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.
None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed. That's right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news -- currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren't throwing parties to toast "falling" unemployment.
There's another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you're an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 -- maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn -- you're not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lie-unemployment.aspx

Toward a New Israel-Hezbollah War?

http://www.lobelog.com/toward-a-new-israel-hezbollah-war/#more-27910

A Pointed Letter to Gen. Petraeus

A Pointed Letter to Gen. Petraeus

By Ray McGovern, Feb. 3, 2015

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/03/a-pointed-letter-to-gen-petraeus/

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/03/a-pointed-letter-to-gen-petraeus/ 

Reports: Jordan will execute imprisoned terrorists after ISIS released a video of one of the country's pilots being burned alive

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/reports-jordan-will-execute-imprisoned-terrorists-2015-2#ixzz3Qisf6uew

http://www.businessinsider.com/reports-jordan-will-execute-imprisoned-terrorists-2015-2?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Tuesday%20Thursday%29%202015-02-03&utm_content=BISelect

The Saudis floated the idea of higher oil prices to get Russia to stop supporting Assad in Syria

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/saudis-higher-oil-prices-russia-syria-support-2015-2#ixzz3QisM4Rkw

http://www.businessinsider.com/saudis-higher-oil-prices-russia-syria-support-2015-2?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Tuesday%20Thursday%29%202015-02-03&utm_content=BISelect

Ironies of Empire: US now Allied with Shiites Trained by Assassinated HIzbullah Leader

http://www.juancole.com/2015/02/guerrillas-assassinated-hizbullah.html

The enemy of our enemy is still our enemy?

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/02/the-israel-lobby-shows-its-clout/

The Israel Lobby Shows Its Clout

February 2, 2015

House Speaker Boehner’s unprecedented invitation to give Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu a platform of a joint session of Congress to undercut President Obama’s foreign policy is just the latest example of how much power the Israel lobby wields, as Gareth Porter explains.By Gareth Porter https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/02/the-israel-lobby-shows-its-clout/

Time for Plan B on Ukraine?

As unsavory as it sounds, Obama may need to press for a diplomatic solution with Putin.
By ANDREW S. WEISS
January 26, 2015 | http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/ukraine-time-for-plan-b-114610.html#ixzz3QiUdQlLt

In his State of the Union address, President Obama appeared eager to declare victory in Ukraine, saying the united front against Vladimir Putin had worked and that “Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters.” The ever-touchy Russian president appeared to respond a few days later, through his separatist proxies, with a dramatic surge in violence in south-eastern Ukraine and last Saturday’s deadly artillery attack on the strategic port city of Mariupol, which killed at least 30 people.

 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/ukraine-time-for-plan-b-114610.html#ixzz3QiUdQlLt

Hurdles stack up on Iran nuclear deal

Hurdles stack up on Iran nuclear deal
Tehran (AFP) Feb 2, 2015 - There are some in Tehran convinced a final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has already been sealed. Others are adamant there will never be a pact. But as uncertainty persists over talks aimed at ending the 12-year standoff on Iran's disputed atomic programme, hurdles to an agreement are stacking up. In Washington, lawmakers are considering imposing new sanctions on Tehran desp ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Hurdles_stack_up_on_Iran_nuclear_deal_999.html

Calls for louder global "voice" as China, India, Russia meet

Calls for louder global "voice" as China, India, Russia meet
Beijing (AFP) Feb 2, 2015 - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday hailed his country's relations with India and Russia during meetings that heard calls for developing economies to have more say on the global stage, rivalling US influence. The twin visits by New Delhi's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Sergei Lavrov from Moscow come on the heels of a high-profile trip to India by US President Barack Obama last week, ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Calls_for_louder_global_voice_as_China_India_Russia_meet_999.html

Eric Holder's lawless legacy: Column

"Holder has continued the tradition of previous attorney generals of exonerating government officials who commit politically-approved crimes. Though President Obama admitted that U.S. government officials were guilty of torture, the only CIA official that Holder prosecuted was John Kirakou, a courageous whistleblower who publicly admitted that the CIA was waterboarding. Holder is also complicit in the Obama administration's decision to suppress a massive amount of information about illegal interrogation practices that occurred during the prior administration."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/02/03/eric-holder-legacy-constitution-justice-department-wiretaps-snowden-nsa-attorney-general-column/22539541/

Obama Wants More Money for Military Spy Satellites, Lasers, Space Fence

http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/02/obama-wants-more-money-military-spy-satellites-lasers-space-fence/104364/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

Guantanamo Bay's Place in U.S. Strategy in the Caribbean

https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/guantanamo-bays-place-us-strategy-caribbean

Battle for Ukraine: How the west lost Putin

The first of two articles examines how the west misread the Russian leader’s determination

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e3ace220-a252-11e4-9630-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=crm/email/201523/nbe/Analysis/product#axzz3QbZf9U6y

China: Embracing Africa, But Not Africans

The next step for Beijing in its Africa relations is better people-to-people relations.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/china-embracing-africa-but-not-africans/

Dangerous cracks at Europe’s centre

Comparisons are being made with the economic depression and unstable politics of the 1930s 

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8bee864a-a7ea-11e4-be63-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=crm/email/201523/nbe/Comment/product&siteedition=intl#axzz3QbZf9U6y

Ironies of Empire: US now Allied with Shiites Trained by Assassinated HIzbullah Leader

Ironies of Empire: US now Allied with Shiites Trained by Assassinated HIzbullah Leader

http://www.juancole.com/2015/02/guerrillas-assassinated-hizbullah.html

Unauthorized Government Killing Using Drones, Bombs, or Other Means Is Still Murder

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/unauthorized-government-k_b_6596114.html

Ivan Eland

2 February 2015

Unauthorized Government Killing Using Drones, Bombs, or Other Means Is Still MurderAlthough U.S. drones firing missiles at suspected bad guys in faraway places -- such as Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia -- have gotten much publicity in recent years, it was recently revealed that the CIA assassinated top Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mugniyah with a good old-fashioned car bomb in Damascus, Syria with President George W. Bush's strident approval in 2008. Because of an executive order, signed in 1975 by President Gerald Ford, prohibiting assassinations by the CIA, presidents usually get around that order by using the military to kill an enemy bigwig and then make the disingenuous claim that it was merely taking out a "command and control" target rather than an assassination. In this case, Bush, never one to observe constitutional or legal niceties, became incensed that the CIA director was being too timid in carrying out the hit using the exploding car. The real issue in such cases is not whether it is more dangerous to liberty to kill the enemy using a high-tech drone or a more traditional car bomb, but whether it constitutional to do either.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/unauthorized-government-k_b_6596114.html

Hillary’s War by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com

Hillary’s War by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com

This Housing Chart Destroys The Arguments Of The Economic Optimists

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-02/housing-chart-destroys-arguments-economic-optimists

The Real NFL Scandal

The Real NFL Scandal

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/28885-the-real-nfl-scandal

Obama Budget Plan Would 'Benefit the Worst Corporate Tax Dodgers' | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Obama Budget Plan Would 'Benefit the Worst Corporate Tax Dodgers' | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/02/obama-budget-plan-would-benefit-worst-corporate-tax-dodgers

Secret Benghazi report reveals Hillary's Libya war push armed al Qaeda-tied terrorists

Secret Benghazi report reveals Hillary's Libya war push armed al Qaeda-tied terrorists:

Libyan officials were deeply concerned in 2011, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power, that weapons were being funneled to NATO-backed rebels with ties to al Qaeda, fearing that well-armed insurgents could create a safe haven for terrorists.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/1/hillary-clinton-libya-war-push-armed-benghazi-rebe/?page=1

Paradise Stolen Don't Show Your Children

Paradise Stolen

Don't Show Your Children

Must Watch - 5 Minute Video

If you're a child, or an adult who's afraid to face reality, do not watch this video.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40867.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40867.htm

China warns against Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-warns-against-obama-meeting-with-the-dalai-lama-2015-2#ixzz3QbvOR15z

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-warns-against-obama-meeting-with-the-dalai-lama-2015-2?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

There's a big risk of global deflation in 2015

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-deflation-the-danger-as-chinas-factories-struggle-2015-2#ixzz3Qbv0Vq11

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-deflation-the-danger-as-chinas-factories-struggle-2015-2?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

Top China analyst: Beijing has been duping the US since Mao

Read more: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinas-secret-strategy-exposed/#ixzz3QbuVj1Yj

http://www.businessinsider.com/top-china-analyst-beijing-has-been-duping-the-us-since-mao-2015-2?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

New research shows our seas are in trouble

New research shows our seas are in trouble
Sheffield, UK (SPX) Feb 01, 2015 - New research by the University of Sheffield has warned of the increasing risk of extinction to our marine life. Overfishing, pollution, climate change and destruction of habitats like coral reefs are all putting our seas in trouble but academics fear the risk is not being taken as seriously as concerns for the loss of animals and plants which live on land. Using the most comprehensive cons ... morehttp://www.terradaily.com/reports/New_research_shows_our_seas_are_in_trouble_999.html

Pentagon Unveils $585 Billion Budget Request

Pentagon Unveils $585 Billion Budget Request // Gordon Lubold and Marcus Weisgerber

The Pentagon unveiled its fiscal 2016 budget proposal of $585 billion Monday, an increase over last year’s budget in recognition of the military’s wide-ranging need to respond to global conflicts in places like Liberia and Eastern Europe, buy new equipment and modernize the force.
The Pentagon’s baseline budget proposal is $534 billion – an increase of about $38 billion over last year. The administration’s request for it’s war chest, the military’s separate Overseas Contingency Operations account, which pays for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and now the train-and-equip program for Syrian rebels and other operations, is less than it was last year. The $51 billion request for the so-called “OCO” budget is about 21 percent less than the enacted operations budget last year.
Even as new operations begin in Iraq and across the Middle East as a train-and-equip program for Syria gets underway, the Pentagon will enjoy a peace dividend that reflects downsized operations of the 13-year war in Afghanistan. But the budget still ignores Congressionally-mandated budget caps.
Read full article »http://www.defenseone.com/management/2015/02/pentagon-unveils-585-billion-budget-request/104277/?oref=defense_one_breaking_nl

FAS Roundup Newsletter 2/2

Big Data: Stealth Control Read the article here.    From the Blogs DoD Classifies Data on Afghanistan Oversight: U.S. General John F. Campbell, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, ordered the classification of a broad range of previously public information concerning operations in that country.How has the $25 million authorized by Congress for women in the Afghan army been used? What are the definitions of the terms “unavailable” and “present for duty”? What is the total amount of funding that the U.S. has expended on salaries for the Afghan National Police? The answers to those questions, and more than a hundred others that had formerly been subject to public disclosure, are now considered classified information. The newly classified data was withheld from disclosure in the public version of the latest quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) that was released last week. More Russians Fear Nuclear War: A recent poll shows that 18% of Russians fear nuclear war, compared to 8% in a poll taken two years ago. Martin Hellman, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Nuclear Risk Analysis, writes that many in the United States do not seem aware of the nuclear dimension in the Ukraine crisis; much of the difference in American and Russian perspectives is due to relative distances from the carnage. The Ukrainian civil war is being fought on Russia’s doorstep, and has flooded Russia with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.Unfortunately, those very different perspectives also create the possibility for one side to inadvertently threaten the perceived vital interests of the other. Classification May Impede Treatment for Vets: National security secrecy can be an impediment to veterans who are seeking treatment for traumas suffered during military service yet who are technically prohibited from disclosing classified information related to their experience to uncleared physicians or therapists. The problem was epitomized by the case of U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Somers, who participated in classified Special Operations missions in Iraq. He returned with significant physical, mental and psychological damage. He killed himself in June 2013. Secrecy, among other factors, appears to have exacerbated his condition, according to Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). To address this problem, Rep. Sinema last week re-introduced the Classified Veterans Access to Care Act, HR 421, which would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs “to ensure that each covered veteran may access mental health care provided by the Secretary in a manner that fully accommodates the obligation of the veteran to not improperly disclose classified information.” Drones in Fact and Fiction: The emergence of unmanned aerial systems, or drones, as an instrument of war is often referred to as a “revolutionary” development in military technology. But if it is a revolution, it is more like a turning of a wheel that will continue to revolve rather than the permanent transformation of all that has come before it. Armed drones represent an innovative response to a particular threat, but they are themselves bound to inspire other innovations and reactions from adversaries. Court Views State Secrets Too Narrowly, Govt Says: The scope of the state secrets privilege is again a matter of contention, as government attorneys in an ongoing lawsuit told a judge last week that he had construed the privilege too narrowly.Is the state secrets privilege applicable only to discrete items of evidence whose disclosure can be shown to harm the Nation? Or can the privilege be invoked more broadly based on the “context” in which litigation occurs? The proper parameters of the state secrets privilege have never been defined in statute, and so these questions recur. In a pending lawsuit concerning the constitutionality of the “no fly” list (Gulet Mohamed v. Eric Holder), the presiding judge has taken a distinctly skeptical view of the government’s use of the state secrets privilege. FAS in the News Jan 31: The Hill, "Russian Nukes In Crimea? A Better Way To Respond"  Jan 29: Frontline, "How Is American Money Being Spent On Afghan Security Forces? It's Classified"  Jan 29: Washington Post, "Transparency Goes On Holiday In Afghanistan"  Jan 27: Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground, "Production Activities At Y-12" Jan 26: BBC News, "Ex-CIA Officer Convicted Of Leaking Iran Plan" Jan 26: Nextgov, "TSA And Inspectors Tussle Over Redactions In JFK Tech Audit"

U.S. to Develop DNA Study of One Million People

An Obama initiative seeks to channel a torrent of gene information into treatments for cancer, other diseases.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/534591/us-to-develop-dna-study-of-one-million-people/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150202

Preserving Ukraine’s Independence, Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United States and NATO Must Do

 Preserving Ukraine’s Independence, Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United States and NATO Must Do
http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/sites/default/files/UkraineReport_February2015_FINAL.pdf

Global Health Ebola Update 2/2

EBOLA

Dwindling Patients, Halted Drug Trial
A lack of patients caused a trial of the antiviral drug brincidofovir in Monrovia, Liberia, to be halted late last week.

Chimerix, the drug’s developer, dropped out of the trial which started Jan.2; the company had sent enough supplies to treat 140 patients, but fewer than 10 had been treated. The dwindling number of patients might also slow trials slated to start soon for 2 vaccines and ZMapp.

The Quote: “It’s more important to end the outbreak than to get the trial done,” said Armand Sprecher, a Medecins Sans Frontières public health specialist at one of the brincidofovir trial’s Monrovia treatment sites.
** The New York Times (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=4b9f95e221&e=9c1fcebfa3)

Related: In pursuit of next-generation Ebola stockpile vaccines – ** Reuters (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=38367a7dec&e=9c1fcebfa3)
** (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=ba60f46b58&e=9c1fcebfa3)


Related: Ebola likely to persist in 2015 as communities resist aid: Red Cross – ** Reuters (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=72c12f0089&e=9c1fcebfa3)


Related: Sierra Leone's hi-tech weapon against Ebola –
** The Telegraph (UK) (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=62cbb61038&e=9c1fcebfa3)

U.S. Considers Supplying Arms to Ukraine Forces, Officials Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/02/world/us-taking-a-fresh-look-at-arming-kiev-forces.html

Obama Admits US Role in 2014 Ukraine Coup

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/02/01/obama-admits-us-role-in-2014-ukraine-coup.html

Our dangerous new McCarthyism: Russia, Noam Chomsky and what the media’s not telling you about the new Cold War

Perverse, diabolical obsession: Policy cliques in D.C. have no intention of desisting in this war until they win it

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/30/our_dangerous_new_mccarthyism_russia_noam_chomsky_and_what_the_medias_not_telling_you_about_the_new_cold_war/

Can Fast Food Afford a $15 Minimum Wage Without Cutting Jobs?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/02/can-fast-food-afford-15-minimum-wage-without-cutting-jobs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Time to “Look for the Union Label?” First US Doctors’ Strike in Decades

Take note of what drove the doctors to strike: not just cutting pension funding as the administration gets lavish increases, but also workplace conditions, specifically restrictions that get in the way of patient care. 
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/02/time-to-look-for-the-union-label-first-us-doctors-strike-in-decades.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

War Is the New Normal Seven Deadly Reasons Why America’s Wars Persist

War Is the New Normal
Seven Deadly Reasons Why America’s Wars Persist
By William J. Astore
It was launched immediately after the 9/11 attacks, when I was still in the military, and almost immediately became known as the Global War on Terror, or GWOT. Pentagon insiders called it “the long war,” an open-ended, perhaps unending, conflict against nations and terror networks mainly of a radical Islamist bent. It saw the revival of counterinsurgency doctrine, buried in the aftermath of defeat in Vietnam, and a reinterpretation of that disaster as well. Over the years, its chief characteristic became ever clearer: a “Groundhog Day” kind of repetition. Just when you thought it was over (Iraq, Afghanistan), just after victory (of a sort) was declared, it began again.
Now, as we find ourselves enmeshed in Iraq War 3.0, what better way to memorialize the post-9/11 American way of war than through repetition. Back in July 2010, I wrote an article for TomDispatch on the seven reasons why America can’t stop making war. More than four years later, with the war on terror still ongoing, with the mission eternally unaccomplished, here’s a fresh take on the top seven reasons why never-ending war is the new normal in America. In this sequel, I make only one promise: no declarations of victory (and mark it on your calendars, I’m planning to be back with seven new reasons in 2019).
Click here to read more of this dispatch.http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175950/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_groundhog_day_in_the_war_on_terror/#more

The perils of a strong US dollar

The bad news is the US recovery is based on the familiar model of rising consumption

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a19a967e-a7e9-11e4-be63-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=crm/email/201522/nbe/Comment/product#axzz3QbZf9U6y

Warren Buffett: Know when to hold ’em

Stephen Foley

Shareholders will be poring over the Berkshire Hathaway chief’s 50th anniversary letter for clues on its future strategy

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/836b1950-a864-11e4-bd17-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=crm/email/201522/nbe/Analysis/product#slide0

Buying a New Air Force One Is Complicated

http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2015/02/buying-new-air-force-one-complicated/104220/?oref=d-mostread

Obama’s Trillion Dollar Nuclear Weapons Gamble

http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2015/02/obamas-trillion-dollar-nuclear-weapons-gamble/104217/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

CFR Daily News Brief 2/2 Fighting Follows Failed Peace Talks in Eastern Ukraine

Daily News Brief February 2, 2015

Top of the Agenda Fighting Follows Failed Peace Talks in Eastern Ukraine Deadly clashes erupted in eastern Ukraine following the collapse of peace talks Saturday. Artillery attacks (Reuters) killed five military personnel and one civilian in Donetsk Monday, according to Kiev military officials. Officials also reported fifteen civilian deaths over the weekend. Pro-Russia separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko called for a full mobilization of forces, vowing on Monday to recruit (BBC) one hundred thousand men. The United States is reportedly considering providing arms and supplies (NYT) to Kiev, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is slated to visit Ukraine on Thursday. Analysis "In the long run, Putin will lose. The people who will suffer most from his folly will be the Russians, not least those in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. But the long run for skillful, ruthless dictators in large, well-armed, resource-rich and psychologically bruised nations can be quite long. Before he goes, more blood and tears will flow unquietly down the river Donets," argues Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian. "The annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine have thus helped Mr Putin to consolidate power at home. But as the economy deteriorates, he cannot afford to let go of eastern Ukraine and seems trapped by the logic of escalating conflict," writes the Economist. "But if the evidence continues to accumulate that Mr. Putin and the rebels are carving out a permanent rebel-held enclave in eastern Ukraine, à la Transdniestria, Abkhazia or South Ossetia, he must know that the United States and Europe will be compelled to increase the cost," writes the New York Times.

China’s Alternative Diplomacy

China has just made its biggest foreign policy adjustment in 25 years. http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/chinas-alternative-diplomacy/

Prime Minister's Office hires rightist Israel advocacy group for 1 million shekels

U.S.-based StandWithUs will work with PMO's National Information Directorate in training students to push government line via social media. 

By Haaretz | Jan. 13, 2015 |

The Prime Minister's Office will pay the right-wing Israel-advocacy group StandWithUs just over 1 million shekels ($254,000) to help it push the government's political line this year via social media, the Israeli media website The Seventh Eye reported on Tuesday. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.636953

Taliban Justice Gains Favor as Official Afghan Courts Fail

By AZAM AHMEDJAN. 31, 2015

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Matiullah Khan and Muhammad Aywaz were each dug in, their property dispute in southern Afghanistan at an impasse.

Despite paying more than $1,000 apiece in lawyers’ fees, they found no resolution in the government’s judicial system. The tribal courts, informal networks of elders that most rural Afghans rely on, had also come up short. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/world/asia/taliban-justice-gains-favor-as-official-afghan-courts-fail.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

A Labor win will only entrench the occupation

On the most fateful issue, another term for Netanyahu would be a disaster, but a victory for Zionist Camp could be a worse disaster.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.640026

Muslim? Thinking of immigration? Go West, skip Europe

http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/59752-150202-muslim-americans-feel-at-home-not-so-european-muslims

Angelus Address: On the Power of God's Word

Angelus Address: On the Power of God's Word

"Always remember that the Gospel has the power to change life! Do not forget this! That is the good news that transforms us only when we allow ourselves to be transformed by it."

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/angelus-address-on-the-power-of-god-s-word

Monsanto's Roundup: Enough to Make You Sick

Monsanto's Roundup: Enough to Make You Sick

http://truth-out.org/news/item/28856-monsanto-s-roundup-enough-to-make-you-sick

It's Greece Vs Wall Street

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-01/its-greece-vs-wall-street 

Why China wants to become the world's banker

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-and-the-world-yuan-for-all-2015-1#ixzz3QWI9of00

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-and-the-world-yuan-for-all-2015-1?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

Dying Shouldn’t Be So Brutal

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/dying-shouldnt-be-so-brutal/?_r=0

'Revolving Door' Between Fed and Banks Spins Faster

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/fed-s-revolving-door-spins-faster-as-banks-boost-hiring?hootPostID=128c50b0bbea9e7c9c0b2be9a388ae9a

Economy grows, incomes shrink

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/1/economy-grows-incomes-shrink.html

Wall Street for President?

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/citigroup-elizabeth-warren-dodd-frank-reform-by-simon-johnson-2015-01

The Super Wealthy See Pitchforks and Guillotines in Their Future

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/02/super-wealthy-see-pitchforks-guillotines-future.html