The federal government has awarded more than $107 billion in contract payments, grants and other benefits over the past decade to foreign and multinational American companies while they were doing business in Iran, despite Washington’s efforts to discourage investment there, records show.
That includes nearly $15 billion paid to companies that defied American sanctions law by making large investments that helped Iran develop its vast oil and gas reserves.
For years, the United States has been pressing other nations to join its efforts to squeeze the Iranian economy, in hopes of reining in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Now, with the nuclear standoff hardening and Iran rebuffing American diplomatic outreach, the Obama administration is trying to win a tough new round of United Nations sanctions.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has urged the state's public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements.
It is time for the Israeli government to be realistic with the changing political conditions in the Middle East. The national security paranoia that has defined its policy toward the Arab world is dated, and no longer helps Israel in dealing with its regional threats: in fact, this paranoia is serving only to obstruct what is left of a lagging peace process.
One of the things about the information age is that control of the information is a hi-profit industry. If a manufacturer can get you to believe the commercial, then he can sell you his goods. If an information operation can sell you a line of bullshit (possible profanity alert) you will go around with that information in your head and it will influence what you believe to be true. It doesn't matter if it's true or not. What matters is if you believe it. People kill and engage in all sorts of nasty behavior based on what they believe to be true.
Do I know what happened? No. But so many people in our country have bought the official story hook, line and sinker, that they will defend their belief and the government who created that belief to their grave. However, if the official story was the truth, than why are there so many millions of intelligent, bright, well-meaning and honest people around the world still questioning the official story 8 years after the fact? Is it perhaps because there is overwhelming proof and mountains of evidence that the official story is a fabrication of lies and disinformation designed to keep the public from discovering the real orchestrators of the biggest mass murder on American soil in our history? And why is it that whenever anyone asks the questions, they are immediately labeled as a kook, a loon, or simply a crazy "conspiracy theorist"? Good question. What is it "they" have to hide? Why haven't the hundreds of questions been answered? Since when did free speech in America and questioning our government become something with which to attack people? Where did it all go so wrong?
Everyone agrees the base on southern Japan's Okinawa Island should be shut down and moved. The problem is where. Col. Dale Smith, who commands the base, is undaunted.
Major U.S. news organizations, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, are engaged in a replay of the kind of slanted coverage that paved the way to war in Iraq, only this time regarding Iran.
A new report from the New America Foundation states that one of every three people killed in the U.S.’s not-so-secret drone war in Pakistan is a civilian. The report also discloses that none of the strikes in 2009 targeted Bin Laden, and that they have had little impact on the Taliban’s ability to plan operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The following recalls have been announced: McCormick & Company is recalling certain best buy and product codes of McCormick French Onion dip mix, McCormick vegetable dip mix, McCormick onion gravy mix and McCormick corn bread stuffing.
