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A former White House official says the United States cannot stand independent countries, such as Russia and Iran, because they are a threat to Washington’s unilateral actions. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Sunday. He was commenting on a statement by the head of the US Special Operations Command, General Joseph Votel, who said on Friday that Russia “could pose an existential threat” to the United States. “Let me clarify what the word … Continue reading →

The headline above is certainly not the one that the Fukushima troubleshooters in Tokyo wanted to read. Nevertheless, the photos of the ‘mutant daisies’ shown below, which were taken at a location 65 miles from the nuclear disaster site, do not lie. Both TEPCO and the Japanese government now have a new crisis to deal with. “‘The images, posted in May by Twitter user @san_kaido of Nasushiobara City, located about 65 miles from the disaster site, show common daisies that appear to have been affected by radiation exposure, oddly fused together like Siamese twins, reports the Weather Channel.’” [1] Still, … Continue reading →

When you are up to your ass in alligators it’s tough to remember you came to drain the swamp… Many so-called experts say the effective range for 12 gauge combat shotguns with buckshot is only 20 yards! That’s just wrong. The 12 gauge is a very serious fight stopper even out to much longer ranges when using buckshot.Slugs are incredibly effective and lethal but as with with rifles the require precise aiming and also go much further where buckshot doesn’t and that is why we prefer buckshot which we will exclusively discuss here. Before we go further remember and understand … Continue reading →

Editor’s Note: Below, longtime Middle East correspondent Charles Glass offers his droll, insightful and entertaining personal take on the much-debated threat presented by Iran. He sees every indication that the country is much more interested in business than in war. (To read an excerpt from Charles Glass’s book Syria Burning, please go here.) There are two Irans. One wants bombs. One wants business. Business Iran, for the moment, is on top. The big bomb goes on ice, and American and European trade comes back. After all, it’s only business. In Iran, even senior clergy are businessmen and have the millions … Continue reading →

If the neoconservatives have their way again, U.S. ground troops will reoccupy Iraq, the U.S. military will take out Syria’s secular government (likely helping Al Qaeda and the Islamic State take over), and the U.S. Congress will not only kill the Iran nuclear deal but follow that with a massive increase in military spending. Like spraying lighter fluid on a roaring barbecue, the neocons also want a military escalation in Ukraine to burn the ethnic Russians out of the east, and the neocons dream of spreading the blaze to Moscow with the goal of forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin from … Continue reading →

There are times when a loud cry of “The emperor has no clothes!” can be most copacetic. And so, let me point out something quite simple, yet very important. The old world order, to which we became accustomed over the course of the 1990s and the 2000s, its crises and its problems detailed in numerous authoritative publications on both sides of the Atlantic—it is no more. It is not out sick and it is not on vacation. It is deceased. It has passed on, gone to meet its maker, bought the farm, kicked the bucket and joined the crowd invisible. … Continue reading →

Some people use auto dealerships for repair and maintenance to their car, and there are certainly some advantages to doing that.  There are benefits to having technicians who only work on your brand vehicle make the repairs.  Dealerships often have the best diagnostic equipment, and they attract and retain some of the best technicians in the industry because of higher wages, benefits, and often better working conditions.  Many dealerships offer loan cars, which people seem to like.  However, all that comes at a price to the consumer, and many prefer to use a non-dealership shop. So how can you find … Continue reading →

While flipping through the WestJet TV lineup on a recent cross-country flight, I reluctantly settled for a popular daytime talk-show (my other options included Days of Our Lives and re-runs of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo), which saw a panel of 4 diversely opinionated women duking it out to see who could make their co-host seem like the bigger idiot. Sigh. Interestingly, however, the subject they were debating that day happened to be male circumcision, a surprising topic for daytime TV. Two of the female hosts in particular were taking the stage with polarizing views on the matter. One host … Continue reading →

The Texas Supreme Court dealt Houston’s contentious LGBT ordinance a major blow Friday. The court ruled that the city of Houston must repeal or allow a vote on the Equal Rights Ordinance, an ordinance that qualified for the ballot but was kept off by Houston’s mayor, who sparked outrage when she tried to subpoena sermons and communications of local pastors. The Equal Rights Ordinance banned businesses that serve the public from discriminating against gay or transgender people. Conservative activists say that the ordinances can be used to allow men who identify as women to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa for women who identify … Continue reading →

hat tips: Nafeez Ahmed and Tony Gosling On July 20, 2015, UK Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a major speech to justify ongoing wars on “extremism.” Supporting corporate media analyses are here, here, here, here; with some honesty from George Monbiot, with a 1-minute corporate media cry for more military armed attacks “on this evil”: Cameron’s speech promotes the UK “Extremist Bill” that bans all media (such as you’re reading now), and sends police to close any organization dictated by government as “extremist” (honest analyses by Glenn Greenwald and via Washington’s Blog). UK Home Secretary Theresa May spins Orwellian for government … Continue reading →

Academic historians dislike the concept that history is often made by groups of individuals plotting together in confidence, even though one obvious way to get big things done is to make plans with your friends and allies while keeping your rivals in the dark as long as possible. One exception is the late Georgetown history professor Carroll Quigley, who in 1949 completed a book rather grandly entitled The Anglo-American Establishment. Decades later Bill Clinton was an undergrad student of Quigley (he got a B from him). In Clinton’s 1992 acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, he cited Quigley as an … Continue reading →

In the early 1920s, George S. Clason wrote a series of articles about acquiring and keeping wealth that were passed out by insurance companies to their customers. In 1926, he combined these essays into a book titled, The Richest Man in Babylon. To this day, that book remains in print. In it, a series of parables highlighted Arkad, the wealthiest man in the area, who rose from poverty after learning from Algamish, the moneylender, lessons of saving and investing. Also, Dabasir the slave applied these rules to become a wealthy camel trader himself. Dabasir is portrayed as laboriously chronicling his … Continue reading →

For some 007 fans, the latest trailer for Spectre, which arrived earlier this week, will have cemented Daniel Craig’s postioned as the definitive Bond: a muscled man-of-action, with plenty of rough-around-the-edges charm, and a much-needed touch of brutality. For others, no actor will ever top Sean Connery’s take on the character; between 1962 and 1983 the rugged, reassuringly virile Scotsman starred in seven Bond films, including much-loved titles such as Dr No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. Roger Moore, who played the secret agent from 1973 to 1985, will always have his share of loyal fans – and we’re sure … Continue reading →

When man grows overconfident and full of hubris in his accomplishments and importance, mother nature, or the gods, remind mankind who is really in charge. Or so it may have seemed to the ancients, who witnessed the awesome and raw power of erupting volcanos, and sent out warnings through time in the form of religious lessons, myths, legends and chronicles. These amazing, violent occurrences were so traumatic and unnatural (or supernatural) to early cultures that since prehistoric times myths and legends have sprung up throughout societies in attempts to explain the events, or protect against them. We explore a few … Continue reading →

Under the original Coinage Act of 1792, drafted by Alexander Hamilton, the penalty for debasing a coin was death. Under that law, President Lyndon B. Johnson was guilty of a capital offense. Fifty years ago today, Johnson signed the Coinage Act of 1965, setting into motion five decades of currency debasement that continues today. Under the law, silver dimes and quarters would no longer contain silver. Instead, the Treasury would mint coins made of “composites, with faces of the same alloy used in our 5-cent piece that is bonded to a core of pure copper.” Today, we call pre-1965 dimes … Continue reading →