Further proof has emerged of the United States secret Grand Jury investigation into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Further information has been demanded on the organization and its founder for the US courts, this time under the PATRIOT Act. The Grand Jury has been meeting in Alexandria, Washington DC, trying to work up an espionage case against the organization's founder Julian Assange. The latest information demanded is anything held by WikiLeaks DNS host, Dynadot in California, regarding wikileaks.org, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.
US
CODEPINK activist arrested after disrupting Israeli PM's speech to Congress
For Immediate Release:
Protester disrupting Netanyahu in Congress arrested at hospital
See press release and videos: http://bit.ly/lUU82f
Photo available for use: http://bit.ly/jBbsdp
Police arrested CODEPINK peace activist Rae Abileah at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington DC. Abileah was taken to the hospital after having been assaulted and tackled to the ground by AIPAC members of the audience in the House Gallery during Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress.
Conscientious objectors given a lifeline by private member's bill
When "Kevin" joined the U.S. army nine years ago, he never imagined he'd be living as a fugitive in Canada today. In 2006, the U.S. Iraq war resister drove halfway across the United States, boarded a plane for Calgary and convinced a border agent to let him in. He's been hiding ever since.
"I don't go out to places and hang out and just strike up conversations with strangers," he says, sitting on his living-room couch. "There's too much on the line."
If caught, Kevin -- not his real name -- could be deported to the U.S. and face jail time for deserting a war he considers to be immoral.
"I'm not the only one who thinks the war is illegal," he says.
Corporate rotten eggs
What do a half-billion eggs have to do with democracy? The massive recall of salmonella-infected eggs, the largest egg recall in U.S. history, opens a window on the power of large corporations over not only our health, but over our government.
While scores of brands have been recalled, they all can be traced back to just two egg farms. Our food supply is increasingly in the hands of larger and larger companies, which wield enormous power in our political process. As with the food industry, so, too, is it with oil and with banks: Giant corporations, some with budgets larger than most nations, are controlling our health, our environment, our economy and increasingly, our elections.
Pakistan floods: Why should we care?
Yesterday, a non-Pakistani friend emailed me: "I wanted to ask you which you think would be the best organization to make a donation to for the current crisis in Pakistan. We usually give to MSF, but their website doesn't seem to offer the opportunity to give specifically for Pakistan. Can you offer advice?"
This friend is British and greatly prefers British media outlets, but I need to believe that there are many Americans who also want to help flood victims in Pakistan -- or who would want to, if they knew the scale and severity of the disaster.
Netanyahu is calling Obama's bluff
There is a new theme developing in U.S.-Israeli relations and while not a new one it is the first time U.S. officials have talked about it so openly: Israeli and U.S. interests in the Middle East are not identical. So far these words have not passed the lips of Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and have only been uttered by military brass. Whether the brass would have the jam to make these statements to pressure Obama on his Mid East policy or they are simply playing their role in an Obama strategy is unclear.
Not Rex commentary from Humberto: Teabag Ann
Ann Coulter can tell a Muslim student to TTC (take the camel), but George Galloway can't even get into Canada. The conservative idea of free speech... pah!
