Showing all posts tagged United States
We have seen the future and it is polluted with drones
Tiny drones, massive drones and drones that can think like humans. This Washington Post feature explains how governments and private companies are set to make billions in the coming decades. Civilians suffering under drones? Ignored: In 1980, Abraham Karem, an engineer who had emigrated from Israel, retreated into his three-car garage in Hacienda Heights outside…
What’s at stake in the Bradley Manning case is fundamental to journalism
Following this week’s hearing against Bradley Manning in the US, something quite profound has occurred, largely ignored by the mainstream media. It’s a point made below by… Kevin Gosztola, who writes “The Dissenter” blog at Firedoglake, on Democracy Now! and should resonate with anybody who cares about journalism that challenges the fundamentals of the state: I…
I am sorry for destroying Fallujah; former US soldier
US Marine Ross Caputi in a remarkably honest piece deeply understands what he did to the Iraqi city of Fallujah: It has been seven years since the end of the second siege of… Fallujah… – the US assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more; the assault that…
Vulture capitalism logic; kill and abuse and ensure more business
American mercenary company Blackwater (now known as Academi, to ensure even more lucrative contracts) has an appalling record of human rights abuses. Gawker recently obtained a massive cache of documents that highlight this cowboy firm: Blackwater, the private mercenary firm that became synonymous with Bush-era war profiteering and reckless combat-tourism,announced yesterday that it has changed…
Israel’s growing anti-democratic tide deepens
My following essay appears in Lebanon’s Al Akhbar English: Radical Jewish colonists in the occupied Palestinian West Bank have been attacking Arabs for decades. In the past these incidents barely rated a mention in the Israeli press, let alone the global corporate media. It was only this month after a small group of Zionists rioted…
Egypt, where is your revolution?
As the US and Israeli backed Egyptian regime escalates its rhetoric and violent actions against those pushing for democracy (something deeply feared by Washington and Tel Aviv), local blogger Sand Monkey unleashes on those who helped spark the revolution: One of the biggest mistakes of this revolution, and there are plenty to go around, was…
Perhaps the scariest article you’ll read all year (robots will soon control us all)
If this is the future of warfare and intelligence gathering, rest assured it won’t only be Washington doing it. Last month philosopher Patrick Lin delivered this briefing about the ethics of drones at an event hosted by In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture-capital arm (via the Atlantic): Let’s look at some current and future scenarios. These go…