For the first time since the end of World War II in 1945, there may be a major war in Europe over Russian agression in Ukraine. Russia got away with the “annexation”of Crimea in 2014, and Russian-backed militias in the Donbas region of Ukraine waging a civil war in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Earlier this … Read more
by Pamela Powers Hannley Southern Arizona peace activists have organized a anti-drone protest outside of Fort Huachuca today, Monday, April 29. Drones are a big deal in Southern Arizona. Ft. Huachuca, Davis-Monthan, Raytheon, the University of Arizona, and Cochise College– all have a piece of the military industrial complex's drone pie, and if our esteemed … Read more
Many Americans don't have a problem with the drone warfare being waged by the United States against "persons of interest," "enemy combatants," or "terrorists" because: 1) we have an old west "get the bad guys" attitude toward foreign policy; 2) we use drones because we can; and 3) drones kill other people's citizens not ours (except in the cases when we have killed US citizens with drones). Right now, we are the big bully on the block with drone warfare, but 70+ countries now have drone technology, and soon US air space will be opened up to drone usage by law enforcement.
It looks as if that future– the future where we may be attacked by the technology we created– came a bit closer to reality today. According to the Huffington Post, an Alitalia pilot reported a close encounter with an unknown drone in the air space over John F. Kennedy International Airport outside of New York City. More details after the jump.
Remember the Super Congress? It was a gimmick that Congressional Republicans came up with after the huge debt ceiling and budget battle in August 2011.
The Super Congress was supposed to balance the US budget during the fall of 2011, but they failed to do so. As a result, the country is now facing "sequestration"– a fancy name for automatic budget cuts and tax increases that were trigger by the Super Congress' failure and the regular Congress' failure to negotiate and agree on humane budget cuts coupled with revenue-generating and economy-growing measures.
Thanks to Congressional foot-dragging, sequestration is upon us. The biggest budget that is up for trimming is the military budget. Although hawks are wringing their hands over potential cuts, the US military budget is by far the largest in the world. In fact, in 2011, the US spent more on the military than the next 13 countries combined! Wonkblog has provided great charts and background information on military spending– perfect ammunition for anyone who in more invested in peace than war. Check out it out after the jump.