Very unfortunately, President Obama just signed a four-year extension of the so-called PATRIOT Act, with three central provisions that permit warrantless spying by government agencies on US residents. This extension was rushed through the Congress with parliamentary maneuvers and opponents of it who wanted a public debate were shut down by Reid and Boehner. If […]
Cole on Goodman & CIA Surveillance
With something like being put under CIA surveillance by the Bush White House, you keep thinking to yourself, as in an old argument, about the things you should have said. I talked briefly to Amy Goodman, and what was on my mind was all the people who said that Bush should be given some of […]
Ret’d. CIA Official Alleges Bush White House Used Agency to “Get” Cole
Eminent National Security correspondent at the New York Times James Risen has been told by a retired former official of the Central Intelligence Agency that the Bush White House repeatedly asked the CIA to spy on me with a view to discovering “damaging” information with which to discredit my reputation. Glenn Carle says he was […]
Women to Protest Driving Ban in Saudi Arabia
Despite its vast oil wealth and the measures the kingdom has taken to buy off potential dissidents, Saudi Arabia is nevertheless not completely able to escape the citizen activism of the Arab Spring. In the kingdom’s case, however, the charge is being led by Saudi women who have mounted a facebook campaign for the right […]
Pakistan Arrests CIA Informants in Bin Laden Case
The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence has arrested five Pakistani informants who gave the CIA information leading to the raid on Usamah Bin Laden’s compound at Abbotabad, according to the NYT. The arrests appear to have happened some time ago, and were part of the recent consultations of Leon Panetta, who is transitioning from CIA chief to […]
Libya not a War for Oil
The allegation out there in the blogosphere that the United Nations-authorized intervention in Libya was driven by Western oil companies is a non-starter. The argument is that Muammar Qaddafi was considered unreliable by American petroleum concerns, so they pushed to get rid of him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bloomberg details the big […]
Under Punitive Israeli Blockade, Gaza Unemployment among Worst in World: UN
The illegal Israeli blockade of little Palestinian Gaza (pop. 1.5 million) has produced 45% unemployment, perhaps the highest in the world, and a situation in which real income has fallen by a third in the past five years. This according to [pdf] a new report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The bad […]
Shadow Internet Story Fishy
Sunday’s report by the NYT on the ‘shadow internet’ being funded by (a paltry) $2 mn. in State Dept. money iis either a psy-ops plant or another sign that the US government can’t help but undermine itself. Joe Lieberman has advocated an internet kill switch. Members of the Senate keep introducing bills to censor the […]
Top Ten Green Energy Good News Stories
1. Environmentalists and peace advocates are hoping that cooperation on solar energy projects can help foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians. What this article doesn’t say is that such cooperation might also allow the two sides to avoid future conflicts over resources. The gas fields off the coast of Israel and Gaza could become an […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved