CANBERRA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States is stepping up its commitment in the Asia-Pacific, with U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday announcing the United States will boost military activities in Australia from 2012.
In a joint press conference held here after a meeting between Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the pair announced the two countries have agreed to increase joint military initiatives to enhance the alliance between the two nations.
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A bad-apple Revere cop awaiting sentencing for lying to the FBI has been locked up, accused of sucker-punching a local news blogger in a Dunkin’ Donuts.
Security video played in a federal courtroom yesterday shows Todd Randall pulling up as Richard Ireton sat having coffee in Revere with two other men. Randall strides in and smacks him in the head, after which Ireton grapples with him. The pair knock over tables and wrestle on the floor.
The US Supreme Court ruled 27 years ago that police could not forcibly enter someone's home over suspected drunk driving. The Fourth District US Court of Appeals in an unpublished decision is looking to change the precedent. A three-judge appellate panel considered the case of Alan J. Cilman who had filed a false arrest lawsuit after Officer M.A. Reeves busted down his door, without a warrant, on October 3, 2004.
Earlier that day, Cilman had left Neighbors Restaurant where he watc... (more)
China’s economy has a reputation for being strong and prosperous, but according to a well-known Chinese television personality the country’s Gross Domestic Product is going in reverse.
Larry Lang, chair professor of Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in a lecture that he didn’t think was being recorded that the Chinese regime is in a serious economic crisis—on the brink of bankruptcy. In his memorable formulation: every province in Ch... (more)
This video is directed at those who tell themselves, and try to convince the rest of us, that they don't mind paying taxes; and it's especially directed to those who take it even further by insinuating that it is a moral or and social duty to do so, that's it's a part of some "social contract".
The final episode of Derren Brown's excellent "The Experiments." In this episode, Derren asks if people can be induced to admit to crimes they did not commit. Rather than get someone to admit to a petty crime, Derren goes for broke and sees if he can get an innocent man to admit to a murder he did not commit.
A new American Civil Liberties Union report documents an area of public policy you'll never hear much debate about within the political class: “How private prison companies have capitalized on the nation's addiction to incarceration." The report sheds light on a societal cancer that generates billions for plutocrats.
The U.S. Department of Justice is defending computer hacking laws that make it a crime to use a fake name on Facebook or lie about your weight in an online dating profile at a site like Match.com.
In a statement obtained by CNET that's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, the Justice Department argues that it must be able to prosecute violations of Web sites' often-ignored, always-unintelligible "terms of service" policies.
The law must allow "prosecutions based upon... (more)
Apparently the folks behind SOPA are really scared to hear from the opposition. We all expected that the Judiciary Committee hearings wouldn't be a fair fight. In Congress, they rarely are fair fights. But most people expected the typical "three in favor, one against" weighted hearings. That's already childish, but it seems that the Judiciary Committee has decided to take the ridiculousness to new heights. We'd already mentioned last week that the Committee had rejected the request o... (more)
In public Sunday, President Obama was at a summit unsuccessfully leaning on Russia and China to back diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuke program.
In private Sunday, there was more evidence of an efficient and brutal covert operation that continues to degrade Iran's military capabilities.
Iranian officials revealed that one of the 17 men killed in a huge explosion at a munitions depot was a key Revolutionary Guard commander who headed Iran's missile program. An... (more)
The last Republican presidential debate — the one on foreign policy — was absolutely pathetic. Except for John Huntsman and Ron Paul, the candidates seemed to be fighting to show that they would be bigger and better torturers, aggressors, and assassins than President Obama.
While the dismal state of the economy is likely to hurt Obama’s chances at reelection, he has clearly outmaneuvered the Republicans by embracing their foreign-policy views. After all, I thin... (more)
President Obama said today that Republican presidential candidates are “wrong” to defend the practice of waterboarding, which he said is torture.
“Waterboarding is torture. It’s contrary to America’s traditions, it’s contrary to our ideals, it’s not who we are, it’s not how we operate,” Obama told reporters at a press conference of the interrogation technique.
I have a fundamental objection to the prison system that I rarely hear raised. Why does a man who steals a loaf of bread lose his freedom of speech? Why does a woman who vandalizes a car lose the freedom to associate with her children? These questions are a challenge to those who view rights as social constructs as well as those who believe they are inalienable. Stated in more general terms, how is it that aggressors lose virtually all freedom because of what might be a minor transgression? ... (more)
The "Just Say No" generation was often told by parents and teachers that intelligent people didn't use drugs. Turns out, the adults may have been wrong.
A new British study finds children with high IQs are more likely to use drugs as adults than people who score low on IQ tests as children. The data come from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which has been following thousands of people over decades. The kids' IQs were tested at the ages of 5, 10 and 16. The study also asked abo... (more)
LRAD, beatings, protesters putting chains around their necks to prevent eviction, Luke Rudkowski from wearechange explains exactly what happened as the police moved in to destroy the Occupy Wall Street camp.
Live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/theother99
We Are Change channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/wearechange
Abby Martin of Media Roots went to Occupy Oakland at 4:00 am to cover the second police raid on the encampment and crackdown against the peaceful protesters at Frank Ogawa Plaza.
The footage shows the intensity in the air leading up to the raid and the insane amount of police presence that showed up to crackdown and destroy the camp.
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) - Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report," talks about the outlook for global stock markets. Faber also discusses Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the U.S. economy and Federal Reserve monetary policy. He speaks from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up."(Source: Bloomberg)
Another riveting episode of Derren Brown's "The Experiments." In this episode, Derren creates a fake game show where the audience votes on whether to subject an unknowing participant to either bad things or good things. In short, the show sums up "the democratic process" wonderfully.
The Grinch who stole Christmas this year is the federal government. First, the Feds were going to institute a Christmas tree tax, now, the TSA will be tearing open your Christmas presents "for your security."
From CBS:
Security screeners at LAX will apparently have zero tolerance for holiday cheer this Christmas.
KNX 1070′s Bob Brill reports authorities on Friday are on the lookout for people who try to smuggle illegal items disguised as ho
Let me begin with a brief description of what a capitalist-entrepreneur does, and then explain how the job of the capitalist-entrepreneur is changed under statist conditions.
What the capitalist does is this: He saves (or borrows saved funds), hires labor, buys or rents capital goods and land, and he buys raw materials. Then he proceeds to produce his product or service, whatever it may be, and he hopes that he will make a profit.
Our system of government erases personal responsibility and replaces it with personal irresponsibility. As government reaches its limits, caused by its inefficiencies, unhappiness and misery increase. The pendulum at some point will swing back.
A major shift in the way we do many things awaits us: the return of personal responsibility. This shift will, when it happens, qualify as a new mega-trend. When enough people become dissatisfied with their lives and understand ... (more)
