January 29, 2014

Afghan president Hamid Karzai suspects U.S. secretly behind Kabul restaurant bombing

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/afghan-president-hamid-karzai-suspects-u-s-secretly-behind-kabul-restaurant-bombing/



Afghan president Hamid Karzai suspects U.S. secretly behind Kabul restaurant bombing
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 12:45 EST

Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspects the United States may have backed insurgent-style attacks to undermine his government but has no evidence to support his theory, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Karzai, whose relations with Washington have steadily deteriorated over the years, has compiled a list of dozens of attacks that he believes the US government may have been involved in, the Post wrote, citing unnamed Afghan officials.

Karzai even harbors suspicions that the Americans may have been behind an attack this month on a Lebanese restaurant frequented by foreigners in Kabul, the newspaper said, quoting a presidential palace official.

However, the Afghan official acknowledged that the government had no concrete proof of a US role in any of the attacks.




unhappycamper comment: Why are we still blowing $2 billion a week in Afghanistan? Three weeks of occupation costs more than the $5 billion dollar SNAP program recons recently cut.

(You guys sure picked a 'winner' in Karzai.)

January 29, 2014

Illinois bishop: ‘Punish’ LGBT people like children if they get married

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/illinois-bishop-punish-lgbt-people-like-children-if-they-get-married/



Illinois bishop: ‘Punish’ LGBT people like children if they get married
By David Edwards
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 13:54 EST

A Catholic bishop who performed an exorcism after the state of Illinois legalized same-sex marriage said last week that he did it because he loved LGBT people and they needed to be punished like children.

Just minutes after Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage last November, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki performed an exorcism on the entire state of Illinois.

Paprocki told Life Site News during last week’s March for Life in Washington D.C. that he went through with the exorcism because the church was “under persecution.”

“Certainly the redefinition of marriage is an opposition to God’s plan for married life,” he explained. “So I thought that would be a fitting time to have that prayer, really for praying for God and his power to drive out the Devil from his influence that seems to be pervading our culture.”

January 29, 2014

Guantanamo expert panel considers release of Osama Bin Laden’s former bodyguard

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/guantanamo-expert-panel-considers-release-of-osama-bin-ladens-former-bodyguard/



Guantanamo expert panel considers release of Osama Bin Laden’s former bodyguard
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 14:21 EST

One of the very first Guantanamo detainees — still classified as among the most dangerous — testified Tuesday to an expert panel that could ultimately see him freed, as efforts intensify to close the controversial jail.

Yemeni Abdel Malik Wahab al Rahabi, 34, appeared frail and serious in a white prison tunic during the 19-minute hearing in Guantanamo of the “Periodic Review Board.”

This is the second time the PRB has heard testimony since it was created by President Barack Obama in 2011, and the first time any part was made public — a video feed was transmitted to a room in the Pentagon for eight journalists and three NGO members.

As Obama tries to move towards closing the Guantanamo detention center, the panel acts as a federal review panel for detainees who have never been charged or tried.

January 29, 2014

We face being buried under an avalanche of Chinese science

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/we-face-being-buried-under-an-avalanche-of-chinese-science/



We face being buried under an avalanche of Chinese science
By Kostas Kostarelos, The Guardian
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 13:14 EST

I was chatting with a friend and collaborator based in Germany recently about the completion of a new building that his university was constructing, dedicated to biomedical imaging sciences. I was sharing my own exhilaration about the serious investment that our government, regional agencies and the EU were making in graphene research at the University of Manchester. At some point in our conversation it became apparent that as extraordinary as the investments in our institutions were, they did not even come close to what we had both experienced from recent trips in China.

Our conclusion was that “for each floor refurbishment in Europe, a new building is built is China, and for each new building in Europe, a new campus is built in China …”

The magnitude of R&D investment in China is unprecedented and well-documented. Nanoscience is a strategically important field in the eyes of Chinese policymakers: a poster-child of new-age, high-tech China. The volume of scientific data generated and published by Chinese laboratories in all areas of nanotechnology has been increasing exponentially.

What I fear is that we all – Asians and westerners alike – run the risk of getting buried under this avalanche of manic scientific output and the oversimplification of capitalist principles applied to science in an artificially consumerist – yet not truly capitalist – society. Let me try to explain.

January 29, 2014

Ukrainian President Yanukovych calls Biden on dramatic day in Ukraine

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/ukrainian-president-yanukovych-calls-biden-on-dramatic-day-in-ukraine/



Ukrainian President Yanukovych calls Biden on dramatic day in Ukraine
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 18:41 EST

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych called Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday in their second conversation in as many days as his country’s political showdown reaches a pivotal point.

The call took place after Ukraine’s prime minister and entire government resigned and parliament scrapped anti-protest laws in the biggest concessions yet to opposition protesters.

The new contact between the White House and Kiev also came on a day when Russian President Vladimir Putin warned foreign nations against interfering in the politics of ex-Soviet states.

The White House said in a statement that Biden welcomed “progress made today” in Ukraine and called on Yanukovych to sign the repeal of several anti-protest laws passed on January 16 laws without delay.

January 29, 2014

Britain denies head of its NSA equivalent is leaving because of Edward SnowdenBritain denies head of

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/britain-denies-head-of-its-nsa-equivalent-is-leaving-because-of-edward-snowden/



Britain denies head of its NSA equivalent is leaving because of Edward Snowden
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 18:44 EST

Britain announced Tuesday that the head of GCHQ, the secret eavesdropping agency that has come under scrutiny following leaks by former US analyst Edward Snowden is to stand down.

Iain Lobban, 53, will leave the agency later this year after serving nearly six years as director, Britain’s Foreign Office said.

It denied that his departure was related to revelations contained in Snowden’s leaked documents that GCHQ was one of the main players in mass telecommunications surveillance.

“Today is simply about starting the process of ensuring we have a suitable successor in place before he moves on as planned at the end of the year,” said a Foreign Office spokesman.

January 28, 2014

Analysis Strategic Africa: Why the U.S. and Europe are sending in the troops

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/strategic-africa-why-the-u-s-and-europe-are-sending-in-the-troops-1.2510472

Analysis Strategic Africa: Why the U.S. and Europe are sending in the troops
By Brian Stewart, CBC News Posted: Jan 27, 2014 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 27, 2014 7:42 AM ET

In the U.S. military's remarkably globalized world staff, officers deep in a special headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, are organizing training missions over three continents all dedicated to one special place — Africa.

What's striking is that this far-flung and little noticed U.S. Africa Command —​ AFRICOM as it's called — has been on a roll at a time when the Pentagon is undergoing a big downsizing.

But the move coincides with new thinking in Washington that big wars like Iraq and Afghanistan are far less likely in future, so it's now time to shift priorities toward preparing for smaller regional conflicts.

This will require, the thinking goes, relatively small, fast-moving actions by units specially trained for working with local forces on a wide range of missions from counter-insurgency to backup support of UN and African Union peace missions.

January 28, 2014

Saudi Gazette: Drone deaths on the rise

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140127193785

Drone deaths on the rise
EDITORIAL

The report that America's drone war has assumed frightening proportions under President Barack Obama should surprise no one. It took only three days for the new commander-in-chief to order his first covert drone strike.

On Jan. 23, 2009, a CIA drone flattened a house in Pakistan’s tribal region. At least nine civilians died, most of them from one family. The lone survivor, a 14-year-old boy, had shrapnel wounds in his stomach and a fractured skull. He lost one eye. Later that day, the CIA leveled another house killing between five and ten people

A week after Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, a missile slammed into a hamlet in Yemen, hitting one of the poorest tribes in the poorest country in Arabian Peninsula. At least 41 civilians were killed, including 21 children and five pregnant women.

Not only has the number of drone strikes and the resulting civilian casualties increased under Obama's watch, but he has also widened the scope of the drone war to include new countries like Yemen and Somalia. Missile strikes from unmanned drones killing unmentionable numbers of people are now the crucial component of America's war on terror. Across Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, the Obama administration has launched more than 390 drone strikes in the five years since the first attack On Jan. 23, 2009 – eight times as many as were launched in the entire Bush presidency. These strikes have killed more than 2,400 people, overwhelming majority of them civilians.

January 28, 2014

The NSA Lied to the German Government

http://watchingamerica.com/News/231048/the-nsa-lied-to-the-german-government/

The NSA Lied to the German Government
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
By Hans Leyendecker and Georg Mascolo
Translated By Ron Argentati
25 January 2014
Edited by Gillian Palmer

The United States has lied at least twice to its German ally. In 2002, the Americans promised not to eavesdrop on the telecommunications of German citizens, then in the same year began monitoring Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. In July, American intelligence again promised to abide by all agreements between the two nations.

In tapping Chancellor Merkel's cell phone, the NSA clearly broke an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and Germany. In addition, the NSA lied to its German ally at least twice in so doing, causing considerable consternation in German government circles.

In April 2002, the NSA guaranteed in a written memorandum of agreement that it would abide by German laws governing the privacy of telephonic and electronic communications. NSA monitoring of Merkel's cell phone began that same year.

Then Chancellery Minister Ronald Pofalla cited the agreement in a press statement last summer and assured that the Americans were abiding by German statutes and not eavesdropping on any communications between German citizens.

January 28, 2014

What a Country!: A Love Letter to America

http://watchingamerica.com/News/231093/what-a-country-a-love-letter-to-america/

Please don’t let us know-it-alls in old Europe throw you off your game. You’ll probably have to help us out of some kind of trouble in the end.

What a Country!: A Love Letter to America
Die Welt, Germany
By Frank Schmiechen
Translated By Kelly Barksdale
19 January 2014
Edited by Sean Feely

You welcomed me with open arms. You approached me, interested and friendly. You took me in for four months even though you had no idea who I was, what I could do or what I wanted. You didn’t care. You answered all of my questions, politely ignoring my weird accent and my mediocre English.

~snip~

You celebrate success, rather than eyeing it suspiciously. Anyone can check the Internet to find out for how much and by whom the house across the street was sold. My neighbors drive two large Jeeps — his is black; she drives the white one. The two cars barely fit in the driveway. The neighbor on the other side has a small, blue electric car and a bicycle. They get along anyway. You demand exceptional achievements and originality, and reward them with large amounts of money.

Freedom Has a Price

In your restaurants, I have eaten the best food imaginable. Well, the best hamburgers. Your wines are adorable. Your seas, your mountains, your valleys, your cities, your deserts — these unbelievable landscapes, that we only know from the movies, exist only with you. Most of all the light — one has the constant feeling of being in a tastefully-lit film and of looking much better than one does in Germany.

Yes, on the street corners in your big cities there is plenty of misery. Anyone who doesn’t manage to keep up in your big game of money and achievement finds themselves on the street faster than they would in Germany. Behind your smiles, your happiness and the smooth sound of your language lies a measure of pitilessness. You are well aware of the fact that your freedom, your beauty and your uniqueness come at a price. It must be fought for, and that can make you hard and unjust. But you know that. And as it appears, you are constantly capable of changing, growing and bettering yourself. I like that about you. Please don’t let us know-it-alls in old Europe throw you off your game. You’ll probably have to help us out of some kind of trouble in the end.