Brazil President Dilma Rousseff, after condemning US government mass spying on Brazilian companies in her speech last month before the United Nations General Assembly, is now singling out the Canada government for engaging in industrial espionage targeting Brazil's mines and energy ministry. The Associated Press reports on Rousseff's concerns, as well as the Brazil foreign minster's discussion of the spying with Canada's ambassador to Brazil at a meeting Monday: read on...
The Obama administration conducted two covert raids in Africa this past week, one in Libya and one in Somalia. One was a messy failure that will only increase blowback; the other was largely irrelevant but raised serious questions about post-"liberation" Libya.
In Somalia, it was reported that Navy SEALs conducted a raid on a village that was said to house senior members of the al-Shahaab group, which had recently taken credit for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya. read on...
Judge Andrew Napolitano, an RPI Advisory Board member, explains the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court scam in his latest masterful column. Napolitano reviews the evidence and concludes that the FISA court, which is routinely referenced to legitimate the US government mass spying program, "is unconstitutional at best and not even a court at worst." read on...
As would be expected in the nation with the highest incarceration rate in the world, the US prison-industrial complex is large and powerful. Yet, the companies that gain from the explosion in jail and prison populations over the last few decades largely remain hidden in the shadows. This week, the American Civil Liberties Union, along with The Nation and Beyond Bars, began rolling out a series of short videos titled Prison Profiteers that promises to expose the workings of the prison-industrial complex.
The first video in the series—the only video released so far—addresses phone system monopolies that charge inmates' families and friends exorbitant rates to communicate with their incarcerated loved ones. It is heartbreaking to watch nine year old Kenny Davis explain in the video that the high cost of a phone call prevents him from talking even once a week with his father, who it would take a four hour drive to visit in person.
Daniel McAdams and Jay Taylor discuss the government shutdown, Ron Paul's green Chevette, claims that the Syrian gas attack videos were a hoax, and more... read on...
The Washington Post yesterday carried the extraordinary story of two Marine generals fired after a 2012 Afghan insurgent attack on Camp Leatherneck/Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The attack by a handful of Afghan fighters resulted in two dead Marines, as well as the destruction of half a dozen AV-8B Harrier jets at a cost of some $200 million.
Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan at the time, and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, the senior Marine aviation officer in the area, were fired for "failing to assign sufficient military personnel to secure the area" and for failing “to exercise the level of judgment expected of commanders of their rank,” respectively.
It was "the first time since the Vietnam war that a US general has been fired for negligence after an enemy attack," the Post wrote. read on...
What a treat it was for me to spend part of my day on the radio with the great Tom Woods! On his Show today, we discussed Syria, John McCain and the neocons, Iran, the Ron Paul Institute, and working for Ron Paul in the House. Tom is a gracious host and I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did. And keep listening to Tom! read on...
Guatemala President Otto Fernando Pérez Molina in his speech Thursday before the United Nations General Assembly praised the marijuana legalization bill progressing through the Uruguay national government as well as marijuana legalization adopted via popular votes in the US states of Colorado and Washington. read on...
