Reckoning with a Trump Presidency and the Elite Democrats who Helped Deliver It (tags)
Deep trends destroyed the welfare and economic security of tens of millions and put them in a mindset where they want to destroy this system of authority. That is what caused Brexit and Trump. The Clintons are seen as corrupt royalty.
The Shortwave Report 06/17/16 Listen Globally! (tags)
A weekly 30 minute review of international news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio and the internet. With times, frequencies, and websites for listening at home. 3 files- Highest quality broadcast, regular broadcast, and slow-modem streaming. Radio Deutsche-Welle, Spanish National radio, Radio Havana Cuba, Sputnik Radio, and NHK World Radio Japan.
Democracy Now, Military Times, Guardian Articles On Soldiers Refusing To Drop Drones etc (tags)
drones: leaks and links... those who profiteer from them... those wiring children with video games which promote drone killing, bombing of Yemen resumes
Blackwater Killers in Ukraine (tags)
Ukraine
US Private Military Contractors in Ukraine? (tags)
Ukraine
Movie Review: Dirty Wars (tags)
Jeremy Scahill, reporter for such outlets as The Nation and Democracy Now, has come out with the most hard hitting documentary of recent years entitled, “Dirty Wars.” He takes us around the globe from Afghanistan to Yemen and Somalia documenting the crimes of U.S imperialistic foreign policy in tragic detail.
NSA: Rogue Spying Writ Large (tags)
NSA
Obama: The Worst of Nixon/Bush II Writ Large (tags)
police state
First Time in History; Democrat Cuts Social Security with Chained CPI (tags)
The upcoming cuts to Social Security are being done by a Democrat President who is supposedly the party of the elderly, the disabled, veterans and the poor. The cuts to Social Security under President Obama include the "chained CPI" that would reduce the regular cost of living increases to the checks each year depending upon the rate of inflation. There is a bipartisan effort to block the latest Social Security cuts being led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont who has a petition on his website telling Pres. Obama "NO CUTS to Social Security!"
Troops do NOT Protect Our Freedom (tags)
Our enemies are not several hundred thousand miles away. They are right here in front of us - Mike Prysner Right. We need to blame the politicians criminally responsible, that Alex Jones forbids his cult to fairly consider as empowered.
Outsourcing War: The Rise of Private Military Contractors (tags)
privatizing war
Defeat U.S. War on Afghanistan and Iraq! (tags)
On December 1, President Barack Obama officially announced a massive escalation of the U.S. war on Afghanistan, tripling the number of American military personnel there since Obama took office. This move marks a decision by Washington to continue the colonial occupation of Afghanistan indefinitely, and with it the bloody slaughter of the Afghan people. Obama’s claim that he would “begin the transfer” of U.S. forces by mid-2011 was just sucker bait for gullible liberals. “Afghanistan Is Now Obama’s War,” proclaimed the media from New York to London to Mumbai. But Afghanistan has been the Democrats’ war since the moment it was launched, in September 2001, and together with the war on Iraq, it is a bipartisan imperialist war. No one in Washington thinks the Afghan puppet army will be able to handle the Taliban. The actual U.S. strategy is not to defeat the Taliban but to weaken it enough so that elements of the Islamists can be brought into a political deal. It is striking that in the United States, a majority of the population is turning against the war even though there hasn’t been a major national antiwar march in more than two years – ever since the start of the last presidential election campaign. At protests following Obama’s announcement of more troops to Afghanistan, organizers carefully avoided any signs mentioning the president by name. Our Internationalist contingent, in contrast, carried signs including, “Hey Obama, How Many Kids Did You Kill Today? Defeat Imperialist Slaughter in Afghanistan, Iraq.”
Scahill: President Obama, Why Did You Pay Blackwater $70 Million in February? (tags)
For those already outraged at the AIG bonus scandal, here is a fact that should add more fuel to the fire: The Obama administration has paid the mercenary firm formerly known as Blackwater nearly $70 million to operate in Iraq and, according to The Washington Times, may keep the company on the payroll months past the official expiration of its Iraq contract in May. I reviewed Blackwater's recent transactions with the Obama State Department and discovered a $45 million payment to Blackwater on February 4, 2009 for "protective services-Iraq." It is described as a "funding action only." Here is the interesting part: The estimated "Ultimate Completion Date" is 5/07/2011.
Local Residents to Protest Plans for Paramilitary Training Center in Riverside, CA (tags)
LOCAL RESIDENTS ASK: WHY WAS THIS PRIVATE PARAMILITARY FIRM APPROVED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS? Protest Planned Against Procinctu Plans to Build Private Military Training Center on Tuesday, January 27 Residents Hopes to Halt Construction of "The Ranch" Inspired by Successful Battle Against Blackwater's Plans in San Diego County WHERE: Outside the Riverside County Administrative Center, at 4080 Lemon Street, Riverside CA WHEN: 8:30 to 9:30 AM, Tuesday January 27, 2009 Protest outside Riverside County Administrative Center 11:00 a.m: Protesters will move inside to express concerns to Riverside County Board of Supervisors general meeting during Oral Communication
Some Thoughts on Obama and the US Empire (tags)
Chris Burnett is host of "Indymedia On Air" on KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles
Jeremy Scahill: This (Old) News Just In... Obama Doesn't Plan to End the Iraq Occupation (tags)
The New York Times is reporting about an "apparent evolution" in president-elect Barack Obama's thinking on Iraq, citing his recent statements about his plan to keep a "residual force" in the country and his pledge to "listen to the recommendations of my commanders" as Obama prepares to assume actual command of US forces. "At the Pentagon and the military headquarters in Iraq, the response to the statements this week from Mr. Obama and his national security team has been akin to the senior officer corps' letting out its collective breath," the Times reported. "The words sounded to them like the new president would take a measured approach on the question of troop levels."
plan for continued wars
Jeremy Scahill: 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House (tags)
U.S. policy is not about one individual, and no matter how much faith people place in President-elect Barack Obama, the policies he enacts will be fruit of a tree with many roots. Among them: his personal politics and views, the disastrous realities his administration will inherit, and, of course, unpredictable future crises. But the best immediate indicator of what an Obama administration might look like can be found in the people he surrounds himself with and who he appoints to his Cabinet. And, frankly, when it comes to foreign policy, it is not looking good.
Militarizing New Orleans and making it whiter.
Locals Continue Battle Against Blackwater on the Border (tags)
Blackwater Opponents Announce Two Upcoming Public Events Community Forum on Tuesday, June 10th and Wednesday, June 11th Rally Outside Front Door of Blackwater's New Site Jeremy Scahill, Renowned Author of International Bestseller "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" Special Guest Speaker Community Groups Charge Blackwater Misused Federal Court to Muscle into Cal-Mex Border Site and Call for Facility Including Shooting Range to Be Shut-Down "No to Baghdad on the Border" New Facility 500 Yards From International Border Will Exacerbate the Potential for Increased Human and Civil Rights Violations to Both Migrants and Members of Border Communities
San Diego, June 10th - Jeremy Scahill speaks on Blackwater (tags)
Scahill will have a new presentation on Blackwater with a critique of the U.S. media, saying that the role of Blackwater as an unaccountable combat force not only abroad but in the U.S. as well is just one of many stories that aren’t being covered properly in the mainstream press.
Mon 6/9 Jeremy Scahill Returns to LA, As So-Cal Continues to Battle Blackwater on Border (tags)
As So-Cal Battles Blackwater Training Facility on Cal-Mex Border, Jeremy Scahill is VISITING LOS ANGELES for talk, discussion, and book signing for the release of the fully updated paperback edition: WHEN: MONDAY, JUNE 9TH AT 7:00 PM WHERE: Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Westminster Chapel 3300 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010 (@Berendo Street, 2 blocks west of Vermont Ave.)
Anti-War Campaigners Have to Change Electoral Tactics (tags)
‘So?” So said Dick Cheney when asked last week about public opinion being overwhelmingly against the war in Iraq. “You can’t be blown off course by polls.” A few days later, his attitude, about the fact that the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq has reached 4,000, displayed similar levels of sympathy. They “voluntarily put on the uniform,” the vice-president told ABC news. This brick wall of indifference helps explain the paradox in which we in the US anti-war camp find ourselves five years into the occupation of Iraq: anti-war sentiment is as strong as ever, but our movement seems to be dwindling. Sixty-four per cent of Americans tell pollsters they oppose the war, but you’d never know it from the thin turnout at recent rallies and vigils.
Iraq Soldiers to Testify about War Crimes at Winter Soldier (tags)
To listen to the parts of the historic Winter Soldier broadcast in Southern California, tune into Pacifica Radio's KPFK at 90.7 FM in Los Angeles and 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara. You can hear the full broadcast online at www.warcomeshome.org. The broadcast runs from 6am-4pm Pacific time (9am-7pm Eastern time) on Friday, March 14th, 6am-4pm Pacific time (9am-7pm Eastern time) on Saturday, March 15th, to 7am-1pm Pacific time (10am-4pm Eastern time) on Sunday, March 16th.
In one of the company's most bizarre recent actions, on December 1 Blackwater paratroopers staged a dramatic aerial landing, complete with Blackwater flags and parachutes--not in Baghdad or Kabul but in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium during the halftime show at the San Diego State/BYU football game. The location was interesting, given that Blackwater is fighting fierce local opposition to its attempt to open a new camp--Blackwater West--on 824 acres in the small rural community of Potrero, just outside San Diego.
Independent Journalist Dahr Jamail Speaks on Iraq (tags)
Anti-war journalist Dahr Jamail spoke at the First Unitarian-Universalist Church in San Diego November 15 to promote his new book, "Beyond the Green Zone," about his experiences as an unembedded reporter in Iraq over eight months from November 2003 to February 2005. His most moving stories were about the two U.S. sieges of Falloujah in April and November 2004.
The empire’s operatives exposed: The Krongards, 9/11, and Blackwater/Iraq (tags)
New bombshell testimony before Congress has revealed that Alvin B. “Buzzy” Krongard, the former CIA executive director connected to 9/11 insider trading, is a consultant and advisory board member of Blackwater USA, the New World Order’s leading intelligence-related corporate mercenary death squad now under investigation for war crimes, murder, arms smuggling, and fraud in Iraq.
Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's Brothers (tags)
Every day, new revelations emerge in the mounting scandal rocking the Bush Administration and the mercenary company Blackwater Worldwide. Much of the attention focuses on the now infamous shooting spree in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed and twenty-four wounded. FBI investigators are now alleging that fourteen were victims of unjustified and unprovoked shooting--some were shot while they were fleeing. Investigators also say they found nothing to substantiate Blackwater's claims of being fired on by Iraqis. This comes a month after a US Army investigation determined there was "no enemy activity involved" and labeled the shootings a "criminal event." But while Blackwater gets hammered in the press, the behind-the-scenes actions of the company's paymaster, the State Department, grow more scandalous by the minute.
Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's loopholes (tags)
REMINDER: Jeremy Scahill, will be speaking in the Los Angeles area, at the United Teachers of LA, 3303 W. Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA, at 7:00 pm on Friday, Nov. 16th and at the First Unitarian Church of Studio City, 12355 Moorpark, Studio City, CA at 7:00 pm on Saturday, Nov. 17th, each with author Dahr Jamail, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. For more information call: 213-309-2713.
Fri 11/16 & Sat 11/17: Authors Scahill & Jamail- Blackwater & Beyond the Green Zone (tags)
Two Evenings with Two of the Most Dynamic Voices of the New Generation of Independent Unembedded Journalists: Dahr Jamail and Jeremy Scahill: Appearing Together in LA Area For Two Nights - Book Signing to Follow Friday, November 16th and Saturday, November 17th
Contracting Out the War in Iraq (tags)
After Blackwater USA’s recent street shoot out in Baghdad, which resulted in as many as 17 civilian deaths, the role of mercenaries in Iraq has received extra attention in the media. Although they have played a key role in the occupation of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, these “private security contractors” have for the most part flown under the public radar. For example, the debate over a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq usually centers around the 160,000 military personnel occupying the country. But what about the estimated 182,000 private contractors now deployed in Iraq? During the 1991 Gulf War, the troop-to-private contractor ratio was about 60 to 1. Now they outnumber uniformed troops, more than doubling the actual size of the occupation force. Private contractors in Iraq do everything from cooking food and doing the laundry to driving trucks and building bridges. Using them on such a vast scale is part of the privatization of the war, which is not only politically convenient, but results in massive profits for the companies involved. As of July 2007, there were more than 630 war contracting companies working in Iraq for the U.S. government.
Can We End the American Empire Before It Ends Us? (tags)
Can We End the American Empire Before It Ends US?
mercenaries without borders (tags)
privatisation of armies and security are a utter defeat of freedom and democracy. Read why.
Coming To A State Near You: Blackwater Air Force (tags)
As if having them run around Iraq like loose cannons wasn't bad enough, Blackwater is building an Air Force. Via Scholars & Rogues:
Blackwater: The Christian Right and the War on America (tags)
the civil war that england has been after for a long time now you WILL sell out america, and worship lords and kings again, or you will die
Local Opposition to Blackwater West Takes Fight Statewide (tags)
Opposition to Blackwater USA's Plans for New Private Military Base Near Potrero a Tiny Rural Town East of San Diego Heats Up... Local Democratic Club Joined by Their Congressman Takes Fight Statewide Announces They Will Submit Resolution to Stop ‘Blackwater West’at California Democratic Party State Convention This Weekend in San Diego Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Potrero Residents, Environmentalists, and Peace Activists to Speak Out in Support of Measure Outside SD Convention Center Saturday, April 28th at 8:30AM
A Review of Chris Hedges' American Fascists (tags)
Christian Right efforts to make America a theocratic fascist state
As Opposition to 'Blackwater West' Grows, Author of Bestseller Blackwater Tours CA (tags)
As Local Residents and Their Congressman Move to Block Plans for ‘Blackwater West’ in California, Jeremy Scahill Author of NY Times Bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army Launches Book Tour Across State April 26th – May 5th
Selective Justice and the Execution of Saddam Hussein (tags)
The transformation of Saddam Hussein from ally to enemy
Bush-Cheney Hit with “Mock” Guilty Verdicts for War Crimes (tags)
It was appropriate that the “Guilty” verdicts against the Bush-Cheney Gang for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity were announced at “Camp Democracy,” on the National Mall. On Sept. 13, 2006, Ann Wright, an ex-U.S. diplomat, read the “mock” verdicts. She was also one of the five jurists who heard the evidence compiled by the Bush Crimes Commission.
Vegetarians Between Meals: This War Cannot Be Stopped by a Loyal Opposition (tags)
The refrain of the Democrats about being misled into supporting the invasion of Iraq has become really tired. And someone other than the White House smearmongers needs to say it: The Democrats cannot be allowed to use faulty intelligence as a crutch to hold up their unforgivable support for the Iraq invasion.
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
The Age of PsyOps: 911 and Bush's Second Inauguration (tags)
Loughrey argues that the US national media is employing PsyOps to control the general population.
"Democracy Now" Propaganda for Electoral Fraud and Fallujah Massacre, by Scott L (tags)
Amy Goodman and 'Democracy Now' never have appeared more like CIA assets than in the aftermath of the November 2nd, 2004 "election".
Who seized Simona Torretta? (tags)
The Iraqi kidnapping has the mark of an undercoverpolice operation.
Democracy Now Producer Arrested: Take Action Now. (tags)
Democracy Now Producer, Ana Nogueira, has been arrested in Miami.
BTL:Critics Question Credibility of FBI Investigation into White House Leak... (tags)
...Exposing CIA Operative. Interview with Ray McGovern, retired CIA analyst, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
BTL:Bush's Pre-Emptive War Doctrine Condemned as Related Scandals Erupt in... (tags)
...White House. Interview with Ian Williams, author of "United Nations for Beginners," conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
TUESDAY: On democracy Now! Robert Fisk in Baghdad (tags)
On Tuesday March 25, news reporter Robert Fisk will join Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill for an exclusive 40-minute interview from Baghdad beginning at 9 a.m. EST (6 a.m. repeated at 9 am on KPFK 90.7 FM in LA).
Tape confiscated by government in DC, journalists in Iraq..
Rumsfeld offered help to Saddam (tags)
The Reagan administration and its special Middle East envoy, Donald Rumsfeld, did little to stop Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction in the 1980s, even though they knew Saddam Hussein was using chemical weapons "almost daily" against Iran.
SADDAM & RUMSFELD PARTNERSHIP OF USING CHEMICAL WEAPON (tags)
In 03,1984, with the Iran-Iraq war growing more brutal by the day, Rumsfeld was in Baghdad for meetings With Saddam Hussain. On the day of his visit, March 24th, UPI reported from the UN “Mustard gas laced with a nerve agent has been used on Iranian soldiers of war between Iran and Iraq, a team of U.N. experts has concluded...
The Saddam in Rumsfeld’s Closet (tags)
“Man and the turtle are very much alike. Neither makes any progress without sticking his neck out.” —Donald Rumsfeld