President-elect Barack Obama‘s tilt to the right became obvious immediately after his historic victory, with the appointment of Rahm Israel Emanuel, a pro-Israel hardliner, as chief of staff. Our December Exit Poll was: “Barack Obama: ruling class pawn or avatar… Read moreObama’s rightward tilt: our readers write
Media accounts are generally not recalling the similar incidents earlier this year. Why is nobody seeing patterns here? From Network World, Dec. 22: Undersea robot searches for severed cables A robot submarine was scouring the seabed 200 meters under the… Read moreMediterranean Internet cables spliced —again
We recently noted that the ACLU is calling for President-elect Barack Obama to close Guantánamo Bay prison camp his first day in office. Now the Pentagon says it is working on a plan to close the camp—but, based on a… Read moreObama to close Gitmo —in two years?
A new report by the US Army War College‘s Strategic Institute warns of massive domestic unrest in the wake of converging crises that it terms a “strategic shock,” and discusses the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used at… Read moreUS Army War College issues report on martial law
For the first time, the US has released Guanánamo Bay detainees in response to a court order, sending three Algerian-born prisoners to their adopted homeland of Bosnia Dec. 16. The three are among five Algerians ordered released last month by… Read moreThree Gitmo detainees released to Bosnia
We wish we were joking. From CNN, Dec. 2: Behavioral screening—the future of airport security? TEL AVIV — Keep your shoes and belts on: Waiting in long airport security lines to pass through metal detectors may soon be a thing… Read moreMind-reading robots to patrol airports
President-elect Barack Obama‘s reported pick for Drug Czar, Minnesota’s Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad, is called out by Maia Szalavitz on Huffington Post Dec. 9 under the lurid title “Obama Drug Czar Pick Tied to Abusive Christian Rehab Linked to Contributor… Read moreObama drug czar pick linked to fraud, Christian right, anti-Semitism
Relatives of 9-11 victims were brought to Guantánamo Bay to witness as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four co-defendants appeared before a US military tribunal. The five men told a military judge they intend to confess in full—an evident challenge to… Read more9-11 survivors pawns in Gitmo controversy —others dissent
In the days before the presidential elections, the US launched an air-strike on a village in Syria. Since then, the US has been bombing Pakistan every few days, with the media paying very little note. Our November Exit Poll was:… Read moreOur readers write: January Surprise?
On the heels of talk about forming an an anti-Obama “underground,” the right-wing talk radio set is now broaching actual secession from the union. The liberal blog Think Progress Nov. 25 posted an audio link from a recent broadcast by… Read moreAnti-Obama backlash: right-wingers broach “secession”
ABC News’ Political Punch blog notes that Samantha Power—the Pulitzer-winning Harvard professor booted from the Barack Obama campaign in March for calling Hillary Clinton a “monster”—has re-emerged as a member of the president-elect’s transition team. Power is listed as a… Read more“Humanitarian” interventionist Samantha Power back on Obama team
From Lebanon’s Daily Star, Nov. 3: Members of Israeli spy ring ‘related to 9/11 hijacker’ BEIRUT — Two men arrested for running an Israeli spy ring in the Bekaa Valley are relatives of a suicide hijacker who piloted a plane… Read more9-11-linked Israeli spies busted in Lebanon?
