Military
Part I
One of the many unexplained (at least not officially) anomalies of the persons claimed to have carried out the Boston Marathon bombings is the presence of key CIA figure in the direct family of the accused brothers. Ruslan Tsarnaev, the outspoken uncle of the brothers was married to Samantha A. Fuller until 2004. Samantha’s father is Graham Fuller, the senior CIA person who architected the Afghan Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen war against the Soviets. He is also implicated in creating a global jihad network, presumably acting on behalf of CIA interests.
Ruslan Tsarnaev, who changed his name to Ruslan Tsarni...
White House, Feeling Pressured, Considers Escalating Syrian Civil War
When a president in his second term is suddenly revealed to be snooping into everyone’s business by every electronic means available, the natural reaction might be to try to change the subject
Trial balloons promoting U.S. military action in Syria started popping up yet again on June 10, as media from one end of the political spectrum to the other quoted mostly anonymous sources from the Obama administration and elsewhere with reactions to proposed violence ranging from enthusiasm...
Activism, Business, Economics, Health, Other, Governance, Military, Politics, Environment, Common Assets
Several hundred citizens of Chittenden County gathered at Burlington’s Unitarian Universalist Church Thursday evening to conduct a “citizens hearing” and express their ever-increasing opposition to the coming arrival of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. From the moment of BTV’s selection as a home base for the new aircraft, citizens from nearby Burlington; South Burlington; Winooski; and others have been passionately and diligently organizing to prevent the arrival of the world’s most expensive weapons platform at the Vermont Air Guard...
Business, Health, Media, Governance, Foreign Policy, Elections, Military, Politics, Diplomacy, Sustainability
On the occasion of this 2013 Memorial Day, I find it altogether fitting and proper that we as a country take a moment away from our sunny picnics and parades to not only honor our fallen soldiers, but also to consider the decisions and decision-makers that have asked so much of them.
Appearing at the National Defense University in the first major foreign policy and counter-terrorism speech of his 2nd term, President Obama focused primarily on addressing many of the rising concerns regarding his overwhelming implementation of drone strikes around the world as...
Activism, Business, Economics, Food&Health, Media, Governance, Foreign Policy, Transportation, Farming, Elections
It was a fairy tale premise: Once upon a time a charismatic prince appeared magically and gave an inspiring, instantly famous speech. Four years later he was leading the most powerful kingdom in the world from the brink of disaster.
Believable, isn’t it? But, as Ken Silverstein revealed in Harpers long before the 2008 presidential election, by the time Barack Obama gave his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention he “had already undergone an equally successful but much quieter audition with Democratic Party leaders and fund-raisers, without whose support he would surely...
Film, Business, Economics, History, Media, Governance, Foreign Policy, Elections, Military, Politics
A long time ago, at the end of the last millennium, a group of U.S. government elites collectively known as “neoconservatives” drafted a visionary document called “The Project for a New American Century” (PNAC). Easily readable via the Internet, this PNAC document made clear that the 21st century United States’ chief goal would be nothing less than world domination (dubbed “full spectrum dominance” in Pentagon’ese) in the name of waging a global sequential war for the planet’s remaining fossil fuel energy resources. Looking back over the decade since the 9/11/2001 tragedy (itself an unsolved mystery, as...
Isn't it a good thing Boston and 9/11 have almost nothing in common?
Talking about the Boston Patriots' Day bombings in a 500-word statement on the Senate floor April 16, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell did what he's paid to do, he played politics with a terrible event about which he has no special knowledge.
He began reasonably enough: "Today, the thoughts of every American are with the people of Boston, but especially with the many victims of yesterday's horrendous attacks, and their families."
That's hyperbole, of course, and there's no way he can know if it's true,...
Activism, History, Governance, Foreign Policy, Elections, Military, Politics, Environment, Diplomacy, Common Assets
By Vidda Crochetta
What is it about the future we seem to fear so much? Will we all end by “dining on ashes” paralyzed like lumps of coal on a fire? Will there be any free space left to sit on the ground “and tell sad stories of the death of kings?”
In a personal blog post titled "A Commentary on the Marathon Murders," Richard Falk begins by describing Boston's "dominant reactions" to the Patriots' Day bombing as being full of compassion for the victims, resolve to catch the perpetrators, and an urge to restore normalcy as swiftly as possible:
In this spirit, it is best to avoid dwelling on the gory details by darkly glamorizing the scene of mayhem with flowers and homage. It is better to move forward with calm resolve and a re-commitment to the revolutionary ideals that midwifed the birth of the American nation.
Such responses are generally...
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