Chuck Spinney: US Military Corruption Continues

Commerce, Corruption, Government, Military
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

President Obama claimed that America’s combat mission Afghan War was over in his SoU address, but 9,800 troops will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future involved in training and counterterrorism missions.  This mission of this left over force has officially been changed to “Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.” To date, the U.S. has spent over $780 billion on the Afghan war, and Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget plans to continue this hemorrhage by calling for as much as $$42.5 billion to be spent on this mission during FY 2016, which begins on October 1 of this year.  The attached report explains argues that this commitment will merely reinforce failure because –

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Owl: The Sins of Brian Williams — Treason?

07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Media
Who?  Who?
Who? Who?

The Williams record in covering up the sickening horrors wreaked by the US military in its never-ending campaign to re-order the world to Washington’s liking goes way back. When NATO jet fighters bombed a passenger train in Serbia – by “mistake” – killing a dozen and wounding dozens more, Williams intoned that visuals of the train attack “are so graphic that we cannot show them on television for fear of upsetting viewers.” Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil – that’s how the trained monkeys of our “mainstream” media treat the depredations of US imperialism: there’s no need to “upset” the delicate sensibilities of Americans, who might be disabused of their rulers’ beneficence. Better to view these crimes through the Vaseline-covered lens of a committed shill. Williams isn’t a reporter: he’s a cosmetician, whose job it is to prettify the ugly truth.” At what point does this become treason? At what point — taking into account Congressional abdication of its own Article 1 responsibilities — might we hold the “fourth estate” accountable for telling us the truth?

The Sins of Brian Williams: They are many – and he’s far from alone

The Cowardly and Despicable American Presstitutes

Why U.S. Reporters Are Always Pro-War

 

SchwartzReport: Norway Dumps Fossil Investments

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 07 Health, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Ethics, Government
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

This is very positive news.  The evolution of non-carbon energy into not one but several alternatives that are both non-polluting and cheaper coupled with the divestiture movement is proceeding change faster than anyone foresaw.  Both trends represent the success that is possible by taking the most compassionate and life-affirming option of those available. This is also a story illustrating how a small group of individuals without official position, power, or personal wealth can create life-affirming social change. Norway holds particular interest in all this for me because it is an entire country pursuing a wellness-oriented social order. It has made Norweigan culture one of the most impressive in the world, and it is reasonable to ask: why aren't other nations following suit?

First Country in the World Dumps Fossil Fuels As Divestment Movement Heats Up

Berto Jongman: Saudi Arabia Behind Al Qaeda and ISIS — Saudi Arabia and Israel as the Greatest Destabilizers

02 Diplomacy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Al-Qaeda, Saudi Arabia and Israel

By Robert Parry, Common Dreams

Saudi Arabia is under a new cloud after a jailed al-Qaeda operative implicated senior Saudi officials as collaborators with the terror group – and the shadow could even darken the political future of Israeli Prime Netanyahu because of his odd-couple alliance with Riyadh. Read full article.

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Mongoose: UNASUR to Investigate US Destabilization Campaigns Against Venezuela

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 07 Venezuela, 10 Transnational Crime, Commerce, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, Peace Intelligence
Mongoose
Mongoose

UNASUR Committee to Examine US Destabilization Efforts

The head of the regional bloc  announced the special committee will meet Monday to examine U.S. intervention in Venezuela. 

The Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Ernesto Samper announced that a special a committee will convene next Monday in Montevideo, Uruguay to discuss U.S. destabilization efforts in Venezuela.

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SchwartzReport: Congressman Confesses 9 Crimes — #ElectoralReform

Corruption, Government
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

The Congress has become so fundamentally degraded we are beginning to see whistleblowers telling us the suppressed truth. This is the state of American democracy, and it is not a happy story. Not particularly his first point, that Congresspersons are not out of touch with the people that elect them. Ultimately in a democracy people get the kind of government they vote for. Note also his second point: Congress listens first and foremost to money.

Congessionsl of a Congressman: 9 Secrets from Inside

Full text below the line — this is why we need #ElectoralReform

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