Новости за 16.11.2015

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Paris. The chaos is spreading from the Middle East into Europe.  An endless stream of unidentifiable refugees and migrants trudge through the Balkans toward the promised lands of Germany and Sweden. Fights are breaking out in refugee camps between national groups. Both the migrants massed near Calais trying vainly to enter Britain and the exasperated More

Every time a mass killing occurs, the nation and the media go through a by-now well-worn routine. First, there is the expressed shock by the media, who are soon on the scene. If it is a large enough killing, Obama gets into the act by putting on an air of righteousness and condemning it (a lot of condemnations by now from him, to no avail). Then there is a minute by minute description of what is going on, particularly wall-to-wall filming of police actions. Then eyewitnesses are sought to describe... Читать дальше...

True to form, the reaction to the Paris terrorist attacks has fallen hardest on Muslims and refugees rather than the handful of psychopathic nihilists who perpetrated them. Without even waiting for anyone to claim responsibility, François Hollande closed the borders, laying blame at the feet of refugees in pitiful capitulation to the far right. As in every such incident the powerful take advantage of the crisis produced by the violent atrocity not to address the causes so that it might not happen again... Читать дальше...

In the spring of 1975 I was attending the University of Maryland. It was during that semester that military recruiters appeared on campus for the first time since before the US invasion of Cambodia in 1970. For those readers who are unaware, that invasion sparked a massive rebellion across the United States, with most of the insurrectionary events taking place on university campuses. By May 15th of that spring, six students were dead and numerous others wounded by gunshot, the result of military... Читать дальше...

This is for Adel Termos, of Beirut, who gave his life so others could live. A week of horrible carnage – bomb blasts in Beirut and Baghdad and then the cold-blooded shootings in Paris. Each of these acts of terror left dead bodies and wounded lives. There is nothing good that comes of them – More

The “Islamic State”, as ISIS styles itself, will be pleased with the outcome of its attacks in Paris. It has shown that it can retaliate with its usual savagery against a country that is bombing its territory and is a power to be feared at a time when it is under serious military pressure. The actions of just More

Will the real China please stand up?  In the US media, most stories about China raise questions that amount to threat-mongering.  How can China’s “aggressiveness” in the South China Sea be stopped?  Is China forming a new alliance with Putin’s Russia?  Has China hacked its way into the most sensitive US industrial and military secrets?  More

Since November 13, 2015, France entered a state of shock. Friday the 13th will no longer be only associated with exploitation Hollywood horror flicks, but will become forever linked in the collective psyche to the mayhem in Paris that occurred on that fateful night. It took only about 10 people, plus a few more to More

Fact: Tens of millions of Americans do not have a bank account. As a result, many of these Americans spend a reported $89 billion annually in interest and fees by using predatory services such as payday loan and check cashing services. It’s a perpetuating cycle of poverty in which the poor get poorer just by More

With France’s military involvement in the Middle East, especially in Syria where a French aircraft carrier is headed (of course, to kill people), this attack on Paris, similar to attacks assisted or conducted by the West in Syria every day for years, appears, at first blush, to be classic Blowback, not unlike the horrific 9/11 attack. More

Carol Doda’s death came to me via the same mechanism as so much news comes to me these days – Social Media. It was Veteran’s Day when I saw the article on SF Gate. I had enjoyed a much-needed day off work though I spent much of it working on things for myself and my More

President Barack Obama has yet to fulfill the promise he made in his January 22, 2009 executive order to shutter Guantanamo “no later than one year from the date of this order.” Any individuals remaining there at the time of closure, Obama wrote, “shall be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third More

Tucuman, Argentina It may come as a surprise to many, but “Don Quixote” is still alive, and in a most unlikely place. He lives in Tucumán, my hometown in northern Argentina. His name is Carlos Duguech. He does not dress in body armor but rather, despite usually scorching temperatures, in suit and tie. He carries More

Most pro football fans (i.e., American-style football) will recall the NFL’s infamous “bounty scandal,” dating back to 2009. This was the debacle that had the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff (notably Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams and Head Coach Sean Payton) implicated in a scheme to pay its players extra money for intentionally injuring the opposition. More