US News The State Department will pay employees who alleged they suffer from ‘Havana Syndrne’ six-figure payouts. State is making the payments in accordance with the HAVANA Act. [Link] Haiti At least eight prisoners died from starvation in a prison in Haiti. [Link] Ukraine President Biden authorized a new $450 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, patrol boats, and tactical vehicles. [Link] Ukraine had received the delivery of US-provided rocket systems, known as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. [Link] Russian President...
the state
Israel Murders Iranians While Biden Kills the Iran Deal
In a clear message to Tehran, an American B-52 flew over the Persian Gulf as soon as Joe Biden entered the White House. Biden promised to return the U.S. to the Iran nuclear deal. But indirect talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which began last April, have stalled for three months without a resolution in sight. Counting on the reliable support of Biden and bipartisan Iran hawks in Congress, the nuclear-armed Israeli apartheid regime intends to kill the deal entirely. Tehran, a decades-long signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, is neither seeking nor has...
State Department ‘Illegally Obstructing’ Afghanistan Probes, Watchdog Says
The US government’s top oversight official for Afghanistan has accused the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of stonewalling ongoing investigations, saying they have refused interviews with staff and even failed to provide “basic information” to assist the probes.
Whether Medicinally Effective or Not, Marijuana Ought to Be Legal
Earlier this year, Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize the medical use of marijuana, which is also legal in the U.S. territories of the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, every couple of years, another state or two are added to the list (there were five in 2016). It is inevitable that the medical use of marijuana will eventually be legal in all 50 states. The effectiveness of medical marijuana has been debated ever since the residents of...
News Roundup 6/22/2022
US News The Biden administration announced a change in US military policy that bans the use of anti-personnel land mines everywhere in the world, except for the Korean Peninsula. [Link] Almost 1,400 New York Army National Guard Soldiers are deploying to East Africa and Kuwait. [Link] SpaceX launched a German military satellite into space. [Link] Ukraine The British Defense Ministry backed the Ukrainian claim that Ukrainian forces sunk a Russian tugboat with US-made Harpoon missiles. [Link] German self-propelled howitzers arrived in Ukraine in the first delivery of heavy weapons. [Link] In...
US Considering Letting Tajikistan Keep Abandoned Afghan Aircraft, Increasing Special Operation Ties
US Central Command commander Gen. Michael Kurilla said the US is considering transferring aircraft that once belonged to the Afghan Army to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan. The aircraft was flown to Tajikistan by Afghan soldiers during the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul. Over the weekend, Kurilla traveled to the Central Asian country for a high-level summit with President Rahmon, Minister of Defense General Colonel Sherali Mirzo. At the meeting, Kurilla said, “I came here to reaffirm our commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of...
‘They Took Our Guns’: A Perspective From Down Under
To the rest of the world, the United States has a gun problem. Mass shootings, especially inside of schools, are national tragedies in the USA. When a non-American asks the question “Why a private citizen needs an ‘assault rifle’?" the pro-gun response is rarely helpful. Non-Americans assume it’s the “gun crazy” culture of the U.S. and to Americans, the rest of the world isn’t free because without a Second Amendment liberty is non-existent. Misunderstandings persist and innocent lives are lost while governments use tragedy and fear to grow. “Unarmed Australia” “Australian civilians now...
US Official Says Biden Will Have One-on-One Meeting with Saudi’s ‘Pariah’ Crown Prince
President Joe Biden is set to meet with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), according to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. The statement from the cabinet-level official appears to contradict what the president said last week. Biden will make a trip to the Middle East next month, where he will first stop in Israel before attending a meeting of regional leaders hosted by Saudi Arabia. Though the president said last week that he would not meet with the crown prince during the summit in Jeddah, the White House has since reversed course. Speaking to CNN on Sunday,...
News Roundup 6/17/2022
US News The Senate Armed Services Committee has added $45 billion to President Joe Biden’s military spending plans in its annual defense policy bill. This week’s boost brings the bill’s topline budget figure to $847 billion. [Link] A major bill expanding health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic military burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan passed the US Senate. [Link] The House Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee approved a budget of $2.9 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), $417 million higher than the White House’s original budget...
‘ESG,’ the Threat to Liberty You Haven’t Heard Of
In March of 2020 COVID-19 spread to the shores of the United States, introducing a medical threat that had all the signs of devastating families from sea to shining sea. But in the shadows, slipping in under the veil of a potentially deadly pandemic, another threat loomed. This threat, known as ESG, was not airborne or viral in the traditional sense. This threat was birthed in the imaginations of banks, corporations, and governments, and much like COVID, this threat is going to alter the life of millions of people worldwide. ESG is an acronym that stands for Environmental, Social...