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Presidential puppetry and revolt in Ashtabula County

None of the twenty-five activists for the Ashtabula County Charter Initiative, designed to move power back into the hands of Americans on how their county is governed, had read, or even heard of the newly released book, “Presidential Puppetry,” by Andrew Kreig.

They had come together in the tiny meeting room of the Board of Elections in Jefferson, Ohio, to let their voices be heard as the Board considered whether or not to honor the opinion issued by County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini, which cast doubt on the fate of a measure which has brought together people from every political viewpoint.

As they coalesced around returning power to the people they became another point of action in a country which is rejecting partisan politics and moving toward a civic model which echoes the vision which still lives in the minds and hearts of people around the world. Kreig's book provides the reasons why Americans must move past the politics of parties, embracing the power to locally determine how their government will work – for them.

Wartime U.S. Travelogue

In Washington Dulles airport I noticed a large advertisement. I'd seen it before and not paid attention. (No doubt that's why they saturate public space with the things.) It showed a woman's face with the words: "A car crash in California almost took her leg. A bomb blast in Iraq helped save it." It directed one to a website: orthoinfo.org/dominique

I'm against car crashes in California. I'm in favor of saving Dominique's leg. But at the website what we find is a claim that her leg was saved because her orthopaedic surgeon had experience in Iraq. And I don't mean in the Iraqi hospitals that existed before we destroyed that country. I mean he had experience in the destruction process.

A region too soon forgotten: U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia

As the Middle East encounters a proliferation of turmoil and angst concerning its future, the United States is struggling to define its foreign policy in the region. Weeks after the Obama administration decided to arm the Syrian rebels in a bloody civil war, the Egyptian people have taken to the streets to uproot an Islamist, U.S.-supported regime. As Iran continues to pursue its nuclear programs, Iraq continues to grapple with the remains of a botched American invasion and occupation. Meanwhile, Afghani security forces are facing the probability of a Taliban resurgence come America’s exit in 2014. Amidst this utter chaos, the United States has a murky position at best as it relates to the Middle East.

A moderate president

Dianne Feinstein: War profiteer and war criminal

Somewhere in northwest Pakistan Tuesday a sound was heard. Hellfire missiles streaked towards a residential compound. Eighteen people, possibly including civilians, were incinerated and another sound was heard in Washington: the sound of change dropping into Dianne Feinstein's purse.

Since the beginning of the recent revelations of a vast system of American and British government spying on nearly every person on Earth, Senator Feinstein has been quick to be at the forefront of defending these programs and denouncing leaker Edward Snowden as a "traitor." Does she mean that Snowden has betrayed America, or betrayed her own profits from illegal surveillance, indefinite detention and extrajudicial murder?

Obama’s climate change plan: Not enough steps forward

President Obama presented his climate change plan to the nation on June 25. He committed himself and his administration to the overarching goals of limiting and eventually stopping the buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and promised to keep the planet a viable place for coming generations to live. In his speech, Obama said:

“Ninety-seven percent of scientists, including, by the way, some who originally disputed the data, have now put that to rest. They’ve acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it.” And: “So the question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it’s too late.”

Flying while Brown: Boliva's President detained on suspicion of smuggling an illegal immigrant

A miracle of Western diplomatic cooperation was achieved today as the US State Department coordinated its allies Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal in a successful effort to deny Bolivian President Evo Morales a clear path and refueling rights on his way out of Europe. The presidential plane was forced to land in Austria, where it was held for 13 hours while Austrian police attempted to search the aircraft for fugitive American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who may be seeking political asylum without a valid passport. The Austrian President later came to the airport and the standoff was defused when Austrian police were allowed to walk through but not thoroughly search the aircraft.

The search was a clear violation of international law as there is no international arrest warrant for Snowden. All attempts by the United States to acquire Snowden have so far relied on bilateral extradition treaties. It is not known why Austria took the historically unprecedented step of invading Bolivian territory in an attempt to arrest a man not wanted for any crime in Austria.

Russian dolls: a whistleblower inside an oil forum inside a European surveillance crisis

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's fate may be in the hands of Russian and Venezuelan ministers, who met on Monday to discuss the oil and gas industry's future in the face of vital EU-USA trade talks due to take place. The former Booz Allen worker, who has supplied a string of highly damaging American surveillance leaks to Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian, has been warned by Vladimir Putin to “stop his work aimed at harming our American partners, as strange as that sounds coming from my lips.” With only a week to go before trade talks are due to begin in Washington DC, Snowden released new information over the weekend showing that American intelligence operations have been spying in secret on the European Union and its most powerful member states. Economically vital Russian energy interests may be harmed by Snowden's revelations if Europe finds America's behavior unpalatable for business.

Critical points in the Trayvon Martin case

As Yogi Berra once famously said, "It's deja vu all over again." That's precisely the feeling I get about the trial of George Zimmerman, who prosecutors have charged with second-degree murder in the February 26, 2012 death of 17-year-old black youth Trayvon Martin. It's the Johnny Cochran Magic Glove Circus Part 2 and, I fear, with the same ultimate outcome.

There's a few key points that need stressing, as I believe they speak to the heart of this case and why it's painfully clear to anyone with half a brain in their heads that Zimmerman, like O.J. Simpson, appears to be a ruthless, unrepentant killer.

Critical fact #1: Zimmerman was an armed adult, in a car, who was instructed by a 911 dispatcher to stay put and not pursue Martin, an unarmed kid. In his own statement to police the night of the shooting Zimmerman wrote, “The dispatcher told me not to follow the suspect and that an officer was in route.” His attorneys can muddy the waters with all their 'if it don't fit you must acquit'-like bullshit, but this fact renders the claim of self-defense absurd.

Obama, Mandela and Leonard Peltier

Barack Obama has taken his two daughters on a dramatic visit to the Robben Island cell once occupied by Nelson Mandela.

Let's hope he takes them next to the one now occupied by Leonard Peltier.

Mandela was famously held by the apartheid South African government for 27 years. He became a global symbol, then president of his nation.

Mandela was charged, among other things, with attempting to overthrow a government, which he admitted.

For 37 years, Peltier has consistently denied the charges against him, which arose from a native American resistance action at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

His bitterly contested 1977 conviction in the killing of two FBI agents came in Fargo. Peltier has since been held under extremely harsh circumstances in a variety of US prisons. He has been denied a wide range of basic rights, been severely beaten, and can't get much-needed medical care. Now in his late sixties, Leonard's health has dangerously deteriorated.

As an indigenous activist, Peltier has been deemed a political prisoner by Amnesty International and numerous other human rights organizations.

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