5
POPSNidal Hasan Terrorist Threat 'Not That Big a Deal'....Matthew Yglesias
I think a pretty good case can be made that this kind of situation actually is the main face of the terrorist threat. Not a big well-thought-out plot centrally directed from a “safe haven” in South Asia and undertaken by brilliant covert operatives, but the desperate violent act of a clearly disturbed individual. It’s going to be very hard to prevent this sort of thing. As long as the United States remains a country in which firearms are widely available"for the foreseeable future, in other words"we’re going to be unusually vulnerable to mentally ill spree killers of various kinds, including spree killers who nod in the direction of Islamist thinking. But the larger point is that while these incidents are serious crimes and major tragedies for the victims, they hardly rise to the level of a major macro-level social crisis. They’re certainly not a first-order national security threat. And even put in the lower-stakes context of violent crime in America
1
POPSWe Need To Do Better For Our Military Much of the study focused on 4th Brigade, home unit to most of the violent crime suspects. 4th Brigade was compared head-to-head with 3rd Brigade, which recently returned from Iraq. The 4th Brigade, now in Afghanistan, has suffered a higher casualty rate than other units its size in two deployments, the Army found, losing lives at a rate more than eight times that of 3rd Brigade. Along with the deaths came intense combat that took a mental toll on troops, the Army found. Soldiers in 4th Brigade were more likely than other soldiers to suffer mental illness. The study also found, though, that soldiers feel their careers can be damaged by seeking mental health help and too often feel that enlisted leaders don't support troops with mental illness. Read the entire article here: http://www.gazette.com/articles/soldiers-58520-report-army.html
3
POPSOfficials: U.S. Army Told of Hasan's Contacts with al Qaeda The Associated Press reported Sunday that Major Hasan attended the Falls Church mosque when Awlaki was there. The Telegraph of London reported that Awlaki had made contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers when he was in San Diego. He denied any knowledge of the hijacking plot and was never charged with any crime. After an intensive investigation by the FBI , Awlaki moved to Yemen. People who knew or worked with Hasan say he seemed to have gradually become more radical in his disapproval of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) called for an investigation into whether the Army missed signs as to whether Hasan was an Islamic extremist. "If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have a zero tolerance," Lieberman told Fox News Sunday. A fellow Army doctor who studied with Hasan, Val Finell, told ABC News, "He would frequently say he was a Muslim first and an American . .
7
POPSSedition Act of 1918 U.S. citizens, including members of the Industrial Workers of the World union, were also imprisoned during World War I for their anti-war dissent under the provisions of the Sedition Act. Anti-war protesters were arrested by the hundreds as speaking out against the draft and the war became illegal under this law.
7
POPSFt. Hood Shooting, 'This is a Domestic Terrorist Attack' Gen. Barry McCafferty (CNN) -- An owner of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Fort Hood, Texas, said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came in for coffee and hashbrowns most mornings, including the morning he allegedly shot dozens of soldiers. Surveillance video from the store obtained by CNN shows a man who, according to the store owner, is Hasan at the cashier's counter at about 6:20 a.m. Thursday (7:20 a.m. ET) -- about seven hours before the mass shooting -- carrying a beverage and dressed in traditional Arab garb. View video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZWuTSuw9Nw more here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.suspect/index.html
1
POPSUS Amy suspect in mass murder Maybe I am naive but does not the first sentence of the Times report ask more questions of multi-nationalism than the wish to prove it works. Daydreaming always ends in disater. Now Let's get real. As a former regular soldier I am sick and tired of listening to the cowering comments of those not prepared to defend their wn country. As in Britain, if all these immigrants really want to do something positive for their adopted country, go back to your own country. Enoch Powell warned of this over half a century ago, and was castigated as a prime racist. How right he has been proven. My sincerest best wishes to the American people and all the victims of this heinous crime.
8
POPSU.N. on Israeli War Crimes
The Goldstone Report now has been approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly. The report calls for Israel to investigate it's war crime accusations...and for the Palestinians to investiage theirs -- and says the slow starvation of over a million and half people in the Gaza Strip should stop. Now, it seems it goes to the Security Council. Which means, if things go as usual, the USA will veto it and it will end there. The USA has does similar actions at the UN for decades, protecting Israel, no matter what. The USA House of Congress has even gone on record, this week, opposing this war crimes report. Israel yesterday seized a ship with weapons and said they come from Iran and this was a war crime...also pointing out that Russia, the USA, China, etc. are all guility of war crimes. The conclusion appears to be that war is a war crime. Everybody's guilty. And let's just forget it. ...um, except when talking about the Nazi's of WWII or the Bosnian Serbs curre
1
POPSThe Menorah As Mossad Symbol - an outraged Jew writes to Jeff Rense "(Note - This totally contradicts the Jewish ethics I learned at home, and reminds me precisely the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion") Bottom: "Ha'Mossad Le'modiein" Translation: "The institute for the collection of Information" As a Jew who supports Israel, I am deeply ashamed that the Mossad has chosen to use the symbol of the State of Israel in the middle of its logo. The Menora (lamp) and the leaves are also a part of our Jewish heritage around the world, but, now that the Mossad has been implicated so seriously with the 911, Lockerbie, ADL, Drugs, Foster, and today with the Mexican Government bombing, I will remove the Menora from my house. Sincerely yours, Shulamit Levy Florida "
0
POPSBackdoor Legislation: Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill with Defense Bill How to Pass Unpopular Legislation 101: Attach them to Defense Spending. This is how Bush administration got through REAL ID. This is contrary to the purpose of Congress which should read and debate ONE BILL AT A TIME, instead of this fraudulent manipulation through "must pass" Defense bills. As for the bill itself, while a woman could slap a man for being too forward in a bar now normal men cannot do the same to a pressing homosexual who might "hit on them" without being charged with a new Federal "Hate Crime". Some are just "more equal than others" now and have Special Protection of the Federal government ABOVE all other U.S. citizens.
7
POPSFirst, Do No Harm BU Med student accused of Craigslist killing and robberies. Gender-bending Harvard-educated rifle-wielding wife-murdering dermatologist Richard Sharpe ends it all in prison. Hooker-frequenting hammer-and-slash wife-murdering prominent allergist Dirk Greineder seeks a new trial. Harvard-trained doc who walked away from surgery does time on drug charges but skates on child rape charges when witness refuses to testify. You’ve got your nursing Angel of Death du jour. Nursing assistant accused of terrorizing elderly. Drug docs to the stars! A rash of them are staring at charges related to buried mistakes Jacko and Anna Nicole. All that’s before you get to the little remarked-upon regular run of docs who believe in hands-on examinations … whether their patients need it or not. In a lot of those cases, the oath should have been “First, Do No Pharm.” But howbout, “First, Weed Out Barmy.” I know, I know, for every murderous, abusive wackjob there are thousands of caring,
2
POPSGoldstone challenges US over Gaza report The United States has criticised the Goldstone report into Israel's war on Gaza, calling it one-sided. In an interview with Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi, Justice Richard Goldstone challenged the US government to justify its claims that his findings are flawed and biased. Goldstone said the attacks on him have become personal and he believes most critics have not even read the report.
3
POPSUN War Crime Accusations called Anti-Semitic. The first thing to point out is that the South African judge in charge of this UN report is Jewish. So calling the report "anti-Semetic," is bizarre. Secondly, all criticism of Israel gets called "anti-Semetic," and this is an extreme example of that. (Since the judge in charge of the report is Jewish). No? Third, Most people are making their judgements based on actions -- like the blockade genocide in the Gaza Strip. It's fair enough and in fact moral to condemn this blockade (and it has nothing to do with racism). If racist accusation were allowed to avoid any criticism then during the evil rule of Hitler in Germany, he should have deflected any criticism by calling it "anti-German racism." No? Distress at the genocide of the Palestinian people, the slow starvation of over a million and a half people in the Gaza strip, has nothing to do with racism. End the blockade and much criticism would also end. It's a shame this ploy distract from looking at the real issues
2
POPSUrge World Leaders: Vote No to Biased Goldstone Report I'm here at the emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, facing a draft resolution by the Arab and Islamic blocs that seeks to endorse the biased Goldstone Report"a 500-page document that falsely accuses Israel of “deliberate attacks” against civilians during its defensive war against Hamas rocket attacks last January. (For details, see www.unwatch.org/goldstone.) Adoption of this dangerous text will trigger proceedings toward the indictment and prosecution of Israeli leaders and officers in the International Criminal Court. What’s at stake is the very survival of democratic societies under the assault of terrorists"enemies of human rights who cynically invoke its protective cover. The debate began yesterday and reaches its climax today. UN Watch will be there to address the assembled delegates. Representing us will be none other than Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan,
3
POPSIsrael Says UN War Crimes Investigation a Distraction Hunting down the Nazis, though, wasn't a "distraction." The holocaust in Gaza deserves equal attention. Over one and a half million people are being starved to death in front of the eyes of the world in the Gaza strip, by the total and ruthless Israeli blockade, destruction of infrastructure, restrictions on employment, farming, fishing and repair of homes. The U.N. report says this blockade must be ended. It is not a "distraction." It would be stopping a crime against humanity.
9
POPSQuotes "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." - James Madison "Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented notas a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac." – George Orwell "A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny." – Alexander Solzhenitsyn "War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals." – Charles Evans Hughes "Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead." - Arundhati Roy "Children learn more from what you are than what you teach." - W.E.B. Dubois, 1897 "Nonviolence doesn't always work-but violence never does" - Madge Micheels-Cyrus
1
POPSTobacco Underground
At a time when nations are increasingly trying to crack down on smoking, smugglers put cheap cigarettes into the hands of those most vulnerable — young people and the poor. In addition, the trade is pushing the supply steadily into the black market, selling cut-rate cigarettes of often dubious quality. Of special concern is the advent of a massive counterfeiting industry. Once a minor problem, today underground factories in China, Paraguay, and Eastern Europe manufacture literally billions of fake cigarettes — Marlboros, Camels, 555s, Mild Sevens — an uncontrolled industry that law enforcement is only beginning to grapple with. Many of the smokes are made from the lowest quality tobacco, full of stem and sawdust, and spiked with unusually high levels of nicotine. Other packs contain far worse. Tests reveal that counterfeit cigarettes carry a bevy of products that could further shorten even a heavy smoker’s life: metals such as cadmium, pesticides, arsenic, rat poison, and human feces.
5
POPSU.N. to consider Israeli War Crimes Report This clip is background to this U.N. decision, announce hours ago. There is also mentioned Hamas did a war crime, alleged to aim rockets in civilian areas. Over a thousand Palestinian civilians were killed in the last Gaza Strip invasion; 3 Israeli civilians killed. Note: the U.S. kills dozens of civilians every week. They just say: "We didn't mean it." The real issues are policies of genocide in the deliberate destruction of Palestinian water supplies and infrastructure, sewage plants, electrical supplis, destruction of industries and farmland, livestock, prohibition on fishing, travel, emprisoned in the Strip, blockade of needed goods including supplies for rebuilding, etc. -- policies designed to totally destroy and/or remove a population based on race.
8
POPSWhy Did The DoD Ignore Requests From Their Own Attorney For A War Crimes Investigation? Air Force Maj. David Frakt, the attorney for former detainee Mohammed Jawad, says over the past 16 months he sent multiple memos to Defense Department and military leaders asking them to account for what a military judge called “abusive conduct and cruel and inhuman treatment” of his client. Jawad, who was arrested when he says he was 12 years old for allegedly tossing a grenade at U.S. military, was moved from cell to cell 112 times during a 14-day period to disrupt his sleep patterns, according to military documents. Frakt said he believes the treatment constituted torture, violated the Geneva Convention, war crime laws and Defense Department regulations.
10
POPSDeath by stoning in Indonesia Those crazy Christians again....oh wait, nevermind, it's Sharia law....my bad But boohoo, those Christians are reading people bible verses....the horror....
17
POPSDrugs No Longer Sold to Tourists in Netherlands "All three parties, which the government of the Netherlands is formed of, also agree that it is necessary to prohibit the sale of drugs from cannabis to foreign tourists." Imagine that - drugs cause people to do stupid things, even rob or kill. Who would've guessed? I thought bong hits had miraculous health benefits and this war on drugs was stupid because getting stoned with your kids makes more sense.
5
POPSDirty war rages on Russia's doorstep There, they were bound with duct tape and placed inside a car that had been wired with explosives and doused in petrol. Their captors sprayed chloroform into their hoods and abruptly departed. The men, who have never been charged with any crime, were left waiting to be blown to bits. It is usual for the security forces to claim that terrorist bombers have inadvertently triggered their device before they were able to plant it. On this occasion, however, Butayev and his friend Islam Askerov, 21, were not rendered helpless by the chloroform. They freed themselves, removed the explosives and placed them in a nearby field. But they were unable to wake the rest of the group before the death squad returned. They fled, leaving Butayev’s 22-year-old brother Artur and the other two behind. Days later, the three men were found dead at another spot, their bodies charred. The survivors are still hiding.
20
POPSUS Hypocrisy Astonishes the World The exceptional “virtuous nation” does not think it is insensitive for America’s bombs to blow innocent villagers to pieces. What does the world think of the United States? The US government is like a criminal who accuses the police of his crime when he is arrested or a sociopathic abuser who blames the victim. It is a known fact that the CIA has violated US law and international law with its assassinations, kidnappings and torture. But it is not this criminal agency that will be held accountable. Instead, those who will be punished will be those moral beings who, appalled at the illegality and inhumanity of the CIA, leaked the evidence of the agency’s crimes. America uber alles! No one counts but us (and Israel). The deaths we inflict and the pain and suffering we bring to others are merely collateral damage on the bloody path to American hegemony.
6
POPSCold War mythology made new by hope n'change
Oleg Atbashian is some kind of genius. Born in the ex USSR, he's impossible to fool with leftist propaganda. His sense of humor leaves one defenseless. Read the whole series. This article concludes, Evidently, if President Obama didn’t share these received views, he wouldn’t have felt the need to apologize before the world for America’s alleged wrongdoings " a gesture that could only reinforce such stereotypes. If his policies weren’t driven by these tenets, he wouldn’t be using the powers of the U.S. president to prop up the forces that oppose America’s founding principles of liberty while denying support to those who want to live by such principles. The reason many Americans haven’t realized it yet is that most media coverage is also born of the same old yellowed clichés. And yet no media bias can obfuscate the fact, clearly demonstrated by events in Iran and Honduras, that even in the absence of U.S.-led conspiracies, anti-American tyrants are still not welco
9
POPSA Brief History Of Political Correctness In other words, facts do not bother the true believers. Their imaginary world is the real reality, the real world is only a temporary reality which is about to be changed. As Marx said, philosophers try to explain the world, the problem (for social scientists) is to change it. The particular ideology of the globalist left is traceable initially to Friedrich Engels and his book ˜The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), and it goes basically like this. Once upon a time man lived in a state of blissful communism where there was no hate, no crime, no violence or war, only universal love. This was possible because there was no private ownership of property. Everything was shared by all and allocated according to the principle ˜from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. In fact nobody laid personal claim to anything, not even their own body. There were no moral rules or restrictions, everybody was bisexual and
6
POPSCheney Attacks Obama, Torture Investigations A whole generation grew up thinking the principle repeated over and over again at the war crime trials after WWII were true: That saying you "were only obeying orders," was not a defense. But former VP Cheney says it is, that "legal memos," given to the CIA said it was okay. Cheney also says torture is okay because "it helped save American lives." Obama is doing great damage to our country, making us less safe, Cheney contends, because 1) These methods are needed to keep us safe and 2) He is sapping the morale of our CIA by allowing the newly announced investigations of the torture program by the Dept. of Justice. Besides being "offended," Cheney also announced that he hasn't decided if he will cooperate with the DOJ investigation. Of course there are lots of holes in the argument. If Hitler had his Justice Dept. write him a memo saying it was okay to murder 6 million Poles and 5.5 million Jews and millions of union organizers and anti-war activist, would that make it o
20
POPSThe World's Most Violent City is on the U.S. Mexican Border In Ciudad Juarez, young women are being murdered. Two dozen teenage girls and young women have gone missing in this violent border city in the last year and half, stirring dark memories of the killings of hundreds of women that made Ciudad Juarez infamous a decade ago.
3
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update