Tag Archives: Winning Hearts & Minds

Al-Qaeda-linked force captures Fallujah amid rise in violence in Iraq

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“A rejuvenated al-Qaeda-affiliated force asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah on Friday, raising its flag over government buildings and declaring an Islamic state in one of the most crucial areas that U.S. troops fought to pacify before withdrawing from Iraq two years ago.  In Fallujah, where Marines fought the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war in 2004, the militants appeared to have the upper hand. The upheaval also affirmed the soaring capabilities of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the rebranded version of the al-Qaeda in Iraq organization that was formed a decade ago to confront U.S. troops and expanded into Syria last year while escalating its activities in Iraq.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/al-qaeda-force-captures-fallujah-amid-rise-in-violence-in-iraq/2014/01/03/8abaeb2a-74aa-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_print.html

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Should Drug-War Victims Pardon the Drug Warriors?

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hornberger2

“Have you ever seen anything so ridiculous in your entire life? The federal government has ruined the lives of countless people with its much-vaunted, decades-long war on drugs. And then the president and the California governor show what good and compassionate people they are by offering a tiny few of the people whose lives they have destroyed a pardon or clemency.  It’s all show time at Christmas time. If Obama and Brown really cared about the people whose lives their drug war has destroyed, they would pardon or grant clemency to every single non-violent drug offender rotting away in prison right now.”

http://fff.org/2013/12/26/should-drug-war-victims-pardon-drug-warriors/

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2013: The Year Defiance of the State Became Cool

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“Information freedom activist Aaron Swartz took his own life under threat of a brutal prison sentence. Revealer of inconvenient government secrets Bradley/Chelsea Manning actually ended up in prison. And surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden went into exile in Russia to escape what promised to be a ‘fair’ trial followed by a first-class hanging. But tough consequences aren’t unusual for people who defy the state. What was different and encouraging was how many people rallied behind Swartz, Manning, Snowden, and other rebels, explicitly siding with them over the government, in opposition to the powers-that-be.”

http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/31/2013-the-year-defiance-of-the-state-beca/print

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I worked on the US drone program. The public should know

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“Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I have seen these awful sights first hand.  I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from the mosque.  The US and British militaries insist that this is an expert program, but it’s curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/29/drones-us-military

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Write A House Is Giving Writers Free Homes In Detroit

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“A new Detroit nonprofit called Write A House has figured out something to do with Detroit’s thousands and thousands of vacant and blighted homes — fix them up and give them to writers.  Write A House will accept applications from working, ‘low-income’ writers in the spring, who will be asked to send writing samples and a letter of intent. The judges include former National Poet Laureate Billy Collins, poet Major Jackson, writer and filmmaker Dream Hampton and editor of the Farrar, Straus & Giroux publishing house Sean McDonald. Writers from all over the world, or living just a few miles away, are all encouraged to apply.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/write-a-house-detroit_n_4474976.html

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GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief

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“British and American intelligence agencies had a comprehensive list of surveillance targets that included the EU’s competition commissioner, German government buildings in Berlin and overseas, and the heads of institutions that provide humanitarian and financial help to Africa.  The papers show GCHQ, in collaboration with NSA, was targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN’s children’s charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde.  Britain’s targeting of Germany may prove awkward for the prime minister, David Cameron: in October, he endorsed an EU statement condemning NSA spying on world leaders, including Merkel.”

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/20/gchq-targeted-aid-agencies-german-government-eu-commissioner

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United Nations Approves Internet Privacy Resolution

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“The United Nations’ human rights committee passed a ‘right to privacy’ resolution that was sponsored by Germany and Brazil. The new document protects the right to privacy against illegal surveillance even in the online world.  The resolution states specifically that governments and companies who deal with surveillance or data interception ‘may violate or abuse human rights.’  Despite the already-long history of the Internet, this is the first time that human rights in the online medium are mentioned, pointing out that these should prevail, everywhere.  Fifty-five countries co-sponsored the resolution, including nations such as France, Russia and North Korea.”

http://news.softpedia.com/news/United-Nations-Approves-Internet-Privacy-Resolution-403948.shtml

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Air strike kills 15 civilians attending wedding in Yemen

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“Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday.  The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.  ‘An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital,’ one security official said.  Five more people were injured, the officials said.  The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).”

http://news.yahoo.com/air-strike-kills-15-civilians-yemen-mistake-officials-183410748.html

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Dismantle the euro, says Nobel-winning economist who backed it

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“A Nobel prize-winning economist will on Thursday withdraw his support for the euro saying it has created a ‘lost generation’ unemployed youngsters and should be broken up. Sir Christopher Pissarides was once a key proponent of a single currency but will on Thursday accuse the euro of ‘dividing Europe’ and say action is needed to ‘restore the euro’s credibility in international markets’ and the ‘trust that Europe’s nations once had in each other’, according to the Daily Mail.  The Cypriot-British economist, who won the Nobel prize in 2010, is speaking days after Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, insisted the crisis in the eurozone was not yet over.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10512678/Dismantle-the-euro-says-Nobel-winning-economist-who-once-backed-currency-union.html

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RNC members tackle Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA

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“Republican National Committee members are drafting a resolution calling for the repeal of a soon-to-be-implemented tax law that critics say is contributing to Americans living abroad renouncing their U.S. citizenship in record numbers.  The law was designed to catch tax American cheats hiding financial assets overseas.  But many of the more than six million Americans living abroad say FATCA has made life difficult for them because several foreign banks, not wanting to deal with the IRS, are turning away American customers or closing accounts of existing U.S. clients.  The situation has become so dire that more and more expats are dropping their U.S. citizenship.”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/12/06/210878/rnc-members-tackle-fatca.html

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