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War Whore

Best of the Web: Bomber in chief: 20,000 airstrikes in Obama's first term cause death and destruction from Iraq to Somalia

Obama drone
© Unknown

Day after day, U.S. air strikes have conclusively answered the familiar question of 9/11: "Why do they hate us?"


Many people around the world are disturbed by U.S. drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. The illusion that American drones can strike without warning anywhere in the world without placing Americans in harm's way makes drones dangerously attractive to U.S. officials, even as they fuel the cycle of violence that the "war on terror" falsely promised to end but has instead escalated and sought to normalize. But drone strikes are only the tip of an iceberg, making up less than 10 percent of at least 20,130 air strikes the U.S. has conducted in other countries since President Obama's inauguration in 2009.

Snakes in Suits

Carmen Ortiz's sordid rap sheet

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The suicide last Friday of information activist, computer hacker and technical wunderkind Aaron Swartz has focused attention on Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, whose overzealous prosecution may have led to his death. Swartz, co-founder of a website later acquired by Reddit as well as a prime developer of the online publishing infrastructure known as Rich Site Summary (RSS), was under federal indictment for logging into JSTOR - a database of scholarly articles accessible from universities across the country - and downloading its content with the intent to distribute the articles online free of charge.

Despite JSTOR's subsequent securing of the "stolen" content and refusal to press charges, Swartz was arrested by the feds and charged originally with four felony counts under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. On those charges alone, Swartz was facing a possible 35-year sentence and over $1,000,000 in fines. Just three months ago, a "Superseding Indictment" filed in the case by the U.S. attorney's office upped the felony count from four to 13. If convicted, Swartz was looking at possibly over 50 years in prison: a conceivable life sentence.

Snakes in Suits

Nebraska Governor sells out state to TransCanada, OKs Keystone XL route through aquifer and sandhills

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Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman
Gov. Heineman just performed one of the biggest flip-flops in Nebraska political history. He approved the pipeline route that crosses the Aquifer after he asked President Obama to deny the route that crossed the Aquifer.

Heineman turned his back on landowners and citizens who asked for an unbiased review of the risks of this pipeline. It is a shame when a politician these days can't cross party lines even to stand up for our water and family farmers and ranchers.

The economic figures Heineman cites in his approval of the route are incorrect, misleading and refuted by journalists and economic experts. Additionally, Bold Nebraska requested a pipeline expert to review economic portions of the DEQ report and found the numbers to be biased and on very shaky ground.

Rocket

"I have a drone". Obama's counter-productive military dream

obama I have a drone
© William Banzai
Two former US officials, one military general and another top counter-terrorism advisor for President Obama, have publicly denounced the drone wars in Pakistan and Yemen, saying they disproportionately kill civilians and generate anti-American sentiments that aid al-Qaeda recruitment efforts.

Michael Boyle, who was on Obama's counter-terrorism advisory group in the run-up to the 2008 election, writes in a study for the Chatham House journal International Affairs that Obama abandoned his pledge to restore respect for the rule of law following the Bush administration.

Obama "has been just as ruthless and indifferent to the rule of law as his predecessor...while President Bush issued a call to arms to defend 'civilisation' against the threat of terrorism, President Obama has waged his war on terror in the shadows, using drone strikes, special operations and sophisticated surveillance to fight a brutal covert war against al-Qaida and other Islamist networks," Boyle writes.

The study concludes that the Obama administration has been "successful in spinning the number of civilian casualties" downward by counting all military-age males they kill as combatants. Civilian casualties are likely to be far higher than so far acknowledged, Boyle said, and government claims to the contrary are "based on a highly selective and partial reading of the evidence."

Cowboy Hat

Anonymous releases message to Obama, compares him to Hitler

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The Hacktivist collective Anonymous has released a new video, this time addressing President Obama and his gun control policies.

In the video, Anonymous uses a comparison of Obama and Adolf Hitler to protest the president's intentions.

During the 15-minute message, the group accuses Obama of trying to disarm legal gun owners to create a tyranny. They explain that Obama has a plan to use the public's sympathy for the Sandy Hook shooting victims to force his "gun grabbing agenda" on citizens.


Snakes in Suits

2 million without drinking water as Chilean capital officials turn off supply due to contamination

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© AFP
More than two million people in the Chilean capital were without drinking water Tuesday because of contamination in a river that supplies the city with water, officials said.

Water was shut down to more than 593,000 homes in the metropolitan area, beginning early Tuesday until at least midnight, forcing the closure of restaurants, offices and playgrounds in areas affected by the cutoff.

"We had an emergency event owing to circumstances beyond our control that forced us to cut water," said Cristian Esquivel, spokesman for the Aguas Andinas water utility.

USA

Birther Republican official hangs flag upside down for Obama's inauguration

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Republican Party chair Brent Kovac
A Republican official in Pennsylvania says that he doesn't regret hanging at least three American flags upside down to protest President Barack Obama's second inauguration because "our nation is in a horrible place."

WPXI's Julie Fine took a news crew to party headquarters in McKeesport to speak to Mon Valley Republican Party Chair Brent Kovac after the station began receiving complaints that the official signal of distress was over the line on a day that most Americans put partisanship aside.

"Sometimes people need a strong statement," Kovac explained to Fine. "The nation is in distress, and this isn't the first time this has been done, whether you agree with the sentiment or not."

Padlock

EU panel seeks power to fine, censor and fire journalists

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© Shutterstock
A series of recommendations issued Monday (PDF) by the European Union's "High Level Group" proposes the establishment of "media councils" in every member state that would be monitored by the European Commission and given the power to fine, censor and even fire individual journalists if deemed appropriate.

"Media councils should have real enforcement powers, such as the imposition of fines, orders for printed or broadcast apologies, or removal of journalistic status," one of the group's recommendations suggests. "The national media councils should follow a set of European-wide standards and be monitored by the Commission to ensure that they comply with European values."

Another recommendation pertaining to media councils advises that they be staffed "with a politically and culturally balanced and socially diverse membership," with lawmakers - not journalists or publishers - making the nominations.

Take 2

CIA and Pentagon have long-running influence over Hollywood's representation of military

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The CIA and the Pentagon pulled out all the stops for the creators of "Zero Dark Thirty," staging interviews with officials and a Navy SEAL for an inside account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Critics praised the movie's gritty and gripping feel but, with the film due for release in major European markets this week, controversy has erupted over claims that it justifies US agents' use of torture on detainees.

The access granted to director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal has turned the Oscar-nominated movie into the most detailed public account that exists of the May 2011 raid on a Pakistani compound to kill Bin Laden.

Nate Jones of the National Security Archives research institute dubbed it "the closest thing to the official story behind the pursuit of bin Laden."

Cowboy Hat

Prince Harry reveals he killed Taliban fighters during Afghan tour of duty

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© PAFighter pilot Prince Harry
Hurtling through the skies above war-torn Helmand, Prince Harry was only too aware his Apache helicopter could have been shot down at any moment.

And the 28-year-old knew if he found himself in Taliban sights he would have no choice but to take them out first.

In an unprecedented interview with a senior royal, Harry admitted he had killed rebels during his 20-week tour of Afghanistan as he put his life on the line to protect troops on the ground and evacuate comrades wounded in battle.

But the brave pilot said while he was happy to be in the thick of the action picking off the enemy in the Apache, he admitted he preferred to be on the ­front line with his men - as he was on his last tour to Helmand in 2007-2008.

And he spoke about the attack at his Camp Bastion base on his birthday last September that many believed was a Taliban bid to murder him.

Comment: Princess Diana must be spinning in her grave!