James Holbrooks

As Trump and Xi Shake Hands at Mar-a-Lago, War Drums Beat in S. China Sea

by James Holbrooks | Apr 7, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. South China Sea — Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping have met, talked, and now seem to want to work things out. That’s fantastic. We should all go into our weekends breathing a little easier and put out of mind a chilling reality. The war drums are beating in the South China Sea. Reuters reported Thursday that Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte just ordered his military to deploy troops to the Spratly islands: “Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday ordered troops to occupy uninhabited islands and shoals it claims in...

US, Japan, and South Korea Hold First Ever Anti-Submarine Drills Aimed at North Korea

by James Holbrooks | Apr 7, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. East Asia — As journalists, analysts, and world leaders wait to see what transpires at the much-hyped summit between Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping this Friday, Asian media reported Monday that the U.S. and its allies in East Asia are conducting their first ever joint anti-submarine drills. They are aimed at coordinating an “effective response” to the purportedly belligerent North Korea. “Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have conducted the first joint anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills involving the three countries,” The...

CNN Anchor Speechless After Congressman Questions Syria Chemical Attack Story

by James Holbrooks | Apr 5, 2017 | Blog

A CNN anchor was left speechless Wednesday during a televised interview when a congressman questioned the mainstream narrative that Bashar al-Assad attacked his own people with chemical weapons this week. “It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening in Syria right now. I’d like to know specifically how that release of chemical gas, if it did occur — and it looks like it did — how that occurred,” Representative Thomas Massie told CNN’s Kate Bolduan. Continuing, the Kentucky congressman asked the question so many who doubt the established line have asked in the past: Why? “Because...

200 Theaters Just Screened Orwell’s 1984 Because 2017 is Dystopian af

by James Holbrooks | Apr 5, 2017 | Blog

As team Trump gears up to welcome the Chinese president at the end of the week — and as it’s forced to deal with a profound piece of anti-government vandalism burned into a Donald Trump property — nearly 200 theaters around the world simultaneously screened the film version of Orwell’s 1984 on Tuesday. “This is really designed to get people to be talking and discussing and active in the political conversation that is happening in America right now - and throughout the world, it turns out,” Dylan Skolnick, co-director of the Cinema Arts Centre on Long Island, told Al Jazeera. Looking...

Family Outraged After Police Drone Caught Spying on Home: ‘They’re Watching My Children’

by James Holbrooks | Apr 4, 2017 | Blog

Hurst, Texas — A family in Texas is saying it’s unacceptable that local police hovered a drone over their back yard without warning. Bobbie Sanchez, of Hurst, says her privacy was violated the day one of her children walked up to her and said, “Mommy, there’s a drone over our roof.” And sure enough, there was. The drone hovered long enough for Sanchez to snap photos and call the police. After all, as Sanchez told the local NBC affiliate, “They’re watching my children play in the back yard.” But when she made the call to police, she received a bit of a shock. “I called the Hurst police...

Anti-Government Vandalism Hits Trump Golf Course at Worst Possible Time

by James Holbrooks | Apr 4, 2017 | Blog

Virginia — Kicking off what CNN called “the most crucial week of statesmanship so far” for the new U.S. president, NBC Washington reported Monday that police in Virginia are investigating a striking piece of vandalism at the Trump National Golf Club. From that report: “Vandals dug holes in the club’s 13th fairway of the club’s Championship Course, spray-painted parts of the course and poured a chemical, believed to be bleach, on the grass, said the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.” Continuing, NBC explained what makes the vandalism so profound: “The word ‘resist’ was spray-painted on...

Companies Have Begun Implanting Microchips in Workers

by James Holbrooks | Apr 3, 2017 | Blog

Sweden — Craving more of a science fiction-style existence? Perhaps you should seek a job with one of the companies at Epicenter, an employment hub in Sweden. The Associated Press reported Monday that companies there have begun microchipping their employees, marking the first time the practice has been used on a broad scale. “What could pass for a dystopian vision of the workplace is almost routine at the Swedish start-up hub Epicenter,” AP reports. “The company offers to implant its workers and start-up members with microchips the size of grains of rice that function as swipe cards:...

U.S. Citizen Jailed 3 Weeks for Being Suspected Undocumented Immigrant

by James Holbrooks | Apr 3, 2017 | Blog

A story this week highlighted the fact that people in America illegally aren’t the only ones affected by Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. On Friday, The Daily Beast reported that a U.S. citizen is suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being wrongfully held for nearly three weeks. Rony Chavez Aguilar, who emigrated from Guatemala in 1991 and became a naturalized citizen in 2001, says during his incarceration he never saw a judge and was never even told why he was being detained. According to Aguilar’s attorney, Charles Roth, who spoke to The Daily Beast, Aguilar...