Big Win for Predatory Healthcare Giants

Big Win for Predatory Healthcare Giants by Stephen Lendman At issue was National Federation of Independent Business, et al, Petitioners v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al (NFIB v. Sebelius). Voting 5 - 4 on Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld what should have been rejected. Pro-business High Court rulings aren't new....

Summit Fatigue

Summit Fatigue by Stephen Lendman Since crisis conditions erupted, it's number 19 and counting. Like earlier summits, they met. They talked. They agreed to talk more. They accomplished little more than before. Dozens of rescue packages preceded Friday's. Promises are made and broken. Hyped plans failed. Conditions are worse now than ever.  Reality belies morning...

Reports of Troop Movements Near Syria’s Borders

Reports of Troop Movements Near Syria's Borders by Stephen Lendman After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new rules of engagement, Turkey deployed missile batteries, rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft weapons close to Syria's border.  About 30 military trucks arrived in Iskenderun. From there, they moved toward Syria's border 30 miles away. Armored military vehicles also...

Duplicitous Human Rights Council Report on Syria

Duplicitous Human Rights Council Report on Syria by Stephen Lendman On June 27, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) discussed conflict conditions in Syria. Truth took a back seat. Some present denounced its absence. Pre-scripted, its conclusions were predictable. Washington calls the shots. Most HRC members salute and obey. Syrian HRC representative Faisal Khabbaz al-Hamwi...

Heated Anti-Assad Rhetoric

Heated Anti-Assad Rhetoric by Stephen Lendman Washington's Syrian regime change plans are longstanding. All independent governments are targeted.  At issue isn't whether they're despotic, democratic, or anything in between. It's about establishing client states subservient to Western interests. That matters most. Heated rhetoric supports it. Targeted leaders are vilified. Since early last year, Western-generated violence...

State of War in Syria

State of War in Syria by Stephen Lendman On Wednesday, Assad said "a state of war" exists.  "(A)LL our policies, directives and all sectors will be directed in order to gain victory in this war." He called on government officials to boost relations with Russia, Latin American and African states. "Apparently, the problem was with...

Commemorating Anti-Torture Day

Commemorating Anti-Torture Day by Stephen Lendman Annually on June 26, The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture remembers and honors victims, survivors, and family members. On June 26, 1987, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment took effect.  The Torture Convention defines it as: "any act by...

Advancing the Ball for War on Syria

Advancing the Ball for War on Syria by Stephen Lendman What's ongoing bears disturbing similarities to events preceding NATO's 1999 Yugoslavia aggression. In the 1990s, NATO lawlessly intervened for the first time outside territories of its member countries. No nation or alliance may attack another except in self-defense.  Doing so requires Security Council authorization. Washington...

Boland Amendment Redux

Boland Amendment Redux by Stephen Lendman In 1982, the House passed the Boland Amendment. It was attached as a rider to the 1983 Defense Appropriations Act. It cut off CIA and other covert Contra funding. Washington backed them against Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). He led a popular uprising against the hated US-backed...

Syria Blamed for Turkish Provocation

Syria Blamed for Turkish Provocation by Stephen Lendman On June 22, two Turkish warplanes provocatively entered Syrian airspace low and fast. Doing so showed hostile intent.  The Obama administration's dirty hands are all over this incident. Washington and Ankara wanted a reaction and got it. Expect what's ahead to unfold as planned. Turkish officials claim...