Archives for August 2015

Ron Paul: Defense Department’s War On Journos For Control Of Propaganda

The Defense Department’s new Law of War manual, which provides guidance to military commanders in time of war, advises that journalists they consider “unprivileged belligerents” can be either removed from military facilities or even detained indefinitely without charge.

Apart from the obvious infringement of the constitution, the biggest problem is that we are in an endless, undeclared war and the provision is sufficiently vague to potentially include any effective critic of US military action. This week's Ron Paul Liberty Report looks at this disturbing new development:

Monsanto Halts Its Bid to Buy Rival Syngenta—For Now

A clash of agribiz titans takes a breather.

Mother Jones -- After four months of hot pursuit, genetically modified seed/pesticide giant Monsanto formally ended its bid to buy rival Syngenta Wednesday—at least for now. Earlier in the week, Monsanto had sweetened its offer for the Swiss agrochemical behemoth—most famous for its controversial atrazine herbicide and neonicotinoid pesticides—to

Bernie Sanders’ Foreign Policy Includes Military Aid To Israel, Saudi Arabia

Bernie Sanders doesn’t talk much about foreign policy, and his website has no mention of it, but his open military support for Israel and Saudi Arabia speaks volumes.

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaks during a town hall meeting

WASHINGTON --- Like most modern presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders doesn’t talk much about foreign policy. Despite the dearth of his statements on the subject, Sanders has supported more military aid to Saudi Arabia because he claims, in opposition to available evidence, that the Saudi government is key to fighting ISIS. In February,

Delays Abound In Prosecution Of Austin Police Detective For 2013 Shooting Of Larry Jackson

An “out of control” Det. Charles Kleinert commandeered a citizen vehicle during his pursuit of Larry Jackson, Jr., an unarmed black man.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Two years ago, Austin Police Det. Charles Kleinert shot and killed Larry Jackson, Jr., an unarmed black man, under a bridge near one of the city’s many greenbelt trails. His death was the savage culmination of a wild chase through the city that ultimately led to Kleinert’s early retirement and indictment for manslaughter. When

Global Response To People Fleeing Ravages Of War: ‘Callous Indifference,’ Humanitarian Failure

Boat tragedy in Libya, corpses of refugees in truck in Austria reminder of human cost of war, lack of humanitarian responses.

Migrants wait to disembark from the Italian Navy vessel 'Bettica' in the harbor of Salerno, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2015. About 700 migrants, including children, were rescued in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. (AP Photo/Francesco Pecoraro)

It's a crisis of record proportions that is being met with global "callous indifference" and failed, dehumanizing responses, human rights experts say. The crisis, described as Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War Two, involves hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, trying to reach

Federal Court Overturns Landmark Ruling On NSA Spying

New decision finds plaintiff in 2013 case did not have legal standing to challenge NSA, but impact remains unclear in wake of USA Freedom Act.

nsa

A federal court on Friday reversed a lower court's landmark 2013 decision that said the National Security Agency (NSA)'s spying operation was likely unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled (pdf) that the plaintiff in the case of Klayman v. Obama did not have the legal standing to challenge the