Thursday 28th of March 2024

Blogs

the stuff of nightmares .....

the stuff of nightmares .....

Former vice-president Dick Cheney could be forced to testify to Congress over allegations that a secret hit squad was set up on his orders, as Democrats press for inquiries into the conduct of the "war on terror". Paul Harris reports from New York.

America is bracing itself for a series of investigations that could see top officials from the administration of President George W Bush hauled in front of Congress, grilled by a special prosecutor and possibly facing criminal charges.

in whose 'national interest' .....

in whose 'national interest' .....

The US spends $100 million a day on the war effort in Afghanistan and a further $7 million a day goes into reconstruction. It has committed to spend $2.4 trillion over the next ten years. Big, expensive buildings have been constructed in Kabul, now "owned by the war lords". Illegal drugs going from Afghanistan into the US and Europe generate about $500 million a year.

reducing principle to platitude .....

reducing principle to platitude .....

From the green left

He occupied a (somewhat self-appointed) position as a hero of Australia's environment and Indigenous rights movements for decades. Yet these days, former Midnight Oil frontman and current ALP environment minister Peter Garrett works overtime to prove his credentials as a defender of big business and the big polluters.

the zionist conspiracy ....

the zionist conspiracy .....

In the early 1960s, Senator William J. Fulbright fought to force the American Zionist Council to register as agents of a foreign government. The Council eluded registration by reorganizing as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC has since become what Fulbright most feared: a foreign agent dominating American foreign policy while disguised as a domestic lobby.

big bananas .....

big bananas .....

When the Honduran military overthrew the democratically elected government of Manuel Zelaya two weeks ago, there might have been a sigh of relief in the corporate boardrooms of Chiquita. Earlier this year, the Cincinnati-based fruit company joined Dole in criticizing the government in Tegucigalpa that had raised the minimum wage by 60%.

the enthusiastic war bride .....

the enthusiastic war bride .....

Most libertarians agree that the American government is colossal, oppressive and a slayer of freedom and liberty.  There are certainly domestic influences and causes for the enormous growth in the statist tilt of American governance and concentration of power. 

blue sky burning .....

blue sky burning .....

It's hard not to feel sorry for this giant, iconic mammal.

So trusting! So vulnerable! So easily harpooned!

If you listen closely, the traces of the threatened behemoth's famous eerie song are still audible.

But the hunters care nothing, as they draw alongside with their cruel barbs.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel, and the hunters have no mercy.

I write, of course, of the brutal, thriving industry that is the modern Garrett hunt.

Was ever a politician easier to skewer?

"aussie tony" & the value of a reputation .....

"aussie tony" & the value of a reputation .....

Glenys Kinnock has done her old friend Tony Blair no favours by announcing he is ready to stand as President of Europe and has Gordon Brown's backing. The 'Stop Blair' campaign in both Britain and Europe will now move into top gear.

the big bowser .....

the big bowser .....

the great leader .....

the great leader .....

from Crikey .....

Turnbull's leadership is clawing back to terminal

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

from the dark side .....

from the dark side .....

If this were the democracy that the Founding Fathers thought they were creating, word from CIA Director Leon Panetta that his agency had lied to Congress and specifically that it had lied repeatedly from 9-11-2001 through the end of 2008 concerning an as-yet undisclosed secret program, would have virtually every member of Congress in a state of rebellion, demanding answers.

After all, the CIA is required by law to report to at least the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and to the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress about such things.

loco tax .....

loco tax .....

It has been touted as a successful treatment for everything from insomnia and depression to Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Now supporters of legalised marijuana are making perhaps their most extravagant claim yet: that the drug can solve California's spiralling financial crisis.

A series of television ads was launched yesterday supporting a bill by Democratic assemblyman Tom Ammiano that would regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the Golden State, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is in a $26bn (£15.9bn) black hole.

a perilous path to perdition .....

a perilous path to perdition .....

Days after the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was greeted in Israel and thanked for having been "alone in sticking by us" during Operation Cast Lead, the attack on the Gaza Strip in December and January, the Jewish state added piracy to its list of recent crimes against international law. The two developments are connected, and not just by coincidence of timing.

shock, horror batman .....

shock, horror batman .....

CIA Director Leon Panetta has admitted that his agency regularly misled Congress, six members of the House Intelligence Committee have alleged.

The claims are echoed in a letter from the committee's Democratic chairman, Sylvestre Reyes.

The allegations follow a claim by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the CIA misled her about interrogation methods.

A CIA spokesman has insisted that "it is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress".

Syndicate content