Higher Pay

Report warns troops stationed in Afghanistan could be tempted to join the drug trade.

There's a "high probability" some Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan – one of the world's biggest sources of illegal drugs – will get involved in the drug trade, a military police report warns.

"Access to illicit drugs in Afghanistan is routine," reads the report obtained by the Star.

"Easy access to heroin, hashish, cannabis presents a temptation for (Canadian) troops in the form of personal use and in the form of importation for the purpose of trafficking," it reads.

Order Out of Chaos

The US Army is ready to deal with civil unrest as the economy heads south.

Wii Like to Fight

Wii controllers headed to the battlefield?

Military contractors are planning to use a popular video game controller to control combat robots.

Drug War

Were the Mumbai terrorists fueled by cocaine and LSD?

"We found injections containing traces of cocaine and LSD left behind by the terrorists, and later found drugs in their blood," the Telegraph was told by one official, whose nationality and relation to the investigation were not specified. "This explains why they managed to battle the commandos for over 50 hours with no food or sleep."

Dire Predictions

A new intelligence report suggests tough times ahead.

...the latest Global Trends report says that rising economies such as China, India, Russia and Brazil will offer the US more competition at the top of a multi-polar international system.

The EU is meanwhile predicted to become a "hobbled giant", unable to turn its economic power into diplomatic or military muscle.

A world with more power centres will be less stable than one with one or two superpowers, it says, offering more potential for conflict.

Global warming, along with rising populations and economic growth will put additional strains on natural resources, it warns, fuelling conflict around the globe as countries compete for them.

"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation and acquisition, but we cannot rule out a 19th Century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries," the report says.

"Types of conflict we have not seen for a while - such as over resources - could re-emerge."

Such conflicts and resource shortages could lead to the collapse of governments in Africa and South Asia, and the rise of organised crime in Eastern and Central Europe, it adds.

And the use of nuclear weapons will grow increasingly likely, the report says, as "rogue states" and militant groups gain greater access to them.

Read the article here.

Moving Images

A couple photos that changed the world.





There's a nice collection of thought-provoking photographs at the link above. Just watch out for some of the nastiest, most ignorant, xenophobic and racist douche bags on the web in their comment sections.

via

One Step Closer to Zombies

"Quantum of Solace" director to lead an army of zombies.

One of the most hotly anticipated zombie (or is that post-zombie?) books finally has a director! According to Variety, the adaptation of Max Brooks' insanely popular "World War Z" has snagged Bond helmer Marc Forster for the job. It's like they didn't think it was buzzworthy enough, what with J. Michael Straczynski writing the script, and Brad Pitt's Plan B producing.

If you haven’t read the book, "World War Z" is a seriously detailed, often creepy account of the zombie apocalypse that wiped out humanity in the 2010s. Compiled by a U.N. Postwar Commission researcher, its a first-person retelling of the war that wiped out every country on the map. Forster was drawn to the project for its journalistic style. "The genre always fascinated me, and when they pitched it to me, it reminded me of the paranoid conspiracy films of the '70s like 'All the President’s Men.'"

I can't wait. The book was enjoyable and even frightening. I read it while alone in the woods before settling down next to a campfire for the evening. Yeah, kinda spooky.

The Vice Guide to North Korea

This is part one of an interesting and funny documentary about an American's experience in North Korea.



It's broken up into several parts, click here for them, you imperialist pig.

Our Greatest Threat

From a new article by Paul Craig Roberts:

The success of the Bush Regime's propaganda, lies, and deception with gullible and inattentive Americans since 9/11 has made it difficult for intelligent, aware people to be optimistic about the future of the United States. For almost 8 years the US media has served as Ministry of Propaganda for a war criminal regime. Americans incapable of thinking for themselves, reading between the lines, or accessing foreign media on the Internet have been brainwashed.

As the Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, said, it is easy to deceive a people. You just tell them they have been attacked and wave the flag.

It certainly worked with Americans.

The gullibility and unconcern of the American people has had many victims. There are 1.25 million dead Iraqis. There are 4 million displaced Iraqis. No one knows how many are maimed and orphaned.

He closes with:

The neoconservatives represent the greatest danger ever faced by the United States and the world. Humanity has no greater enemy.

No More Games

A board game has been seized by police in the name of fighting terror.



Police in Kent, UK arrested some climate protestors and confiscated their "criminal" equipment, including a satirical boardgame about the war on terror. The police claim that the ski mask that came with the game could be used in a criminal act.

Whew, I feel safer already.

Questions Remain

Unanswered questions about 9/11.

Unrest

Heartbreaking photos of the "unrest" in Georgia.

Anthrax

The US government's purported 'Anthrax Killer' was a registered Democrat.

Party affiliation of the now-deceased Bruce Ivins, as confirmed by his local county board of elections, adds yet another curious question to the increasingly troubling investigation into the post-9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil...

Dark Forces

Would both McCain and Obama like to see militarized domestic security forces?

Appearing before the Urban League this week, John McCain revealed his plan for imposing a military dictatorship in "high crime neighborhoods" in the United States.

On the other side of the fixed race, we have Obama's Hitlerjugend, a "national security force… as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces".

Read more here.

False Flags

Seymour Hersh: vice president wanted to carry out a false flag operation to provoke a war with Iran.

"There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up."

Read & watch more here.

This Week's Headlies

Media Kings

Former Governor, pro-wrestler, and actor Jesse Ventura talks with Howard Stern about 9/11, the wars, and politics.



Find part two here.

Supply & Die

Is that old Playstation 2 of yours responsible for real life death and destruction?

...the search for a rare metal necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console has fueled a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms," said Ex-British Parliament Member Oona King.

Comply or Resist

Warped Pigs

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Refuge

Canada no longer "a refuge from militarism" for US soldiers.

"It's quite clear that the current Canadian government does not want to annoy the U.S. government on this issue and will not give any ground," said Michael Byers, a professor of politics and international law at the University of British Columbia.

Make Art Not War

Kenyan artist Solo 7 takes peace to the streets with his paintbrush.

Via

Remembering Russert

From Alexander Cockburn:

Now Russert had the power, the clout and the venue to ask tough questions in the run-up to the war in Iraq which began in March, 2003. There were plenty of serious people with informed views about whether or not Saddam Hussein really had nuclear missile to level London and bio-weapons to kill millions. But Russert was part of the Amen Chorus for a war that sent countless men, women and children to their deaths. When it mattered, he entertained no dangerous differences with the White House line. Was this a performance worthy of "a true American patriot"?

Did this "true American patriot" commanding the attention of millions every week not open his mouth to lament the fact that the U.S. government has been trashing the Constitution and tossing the Bill of Rights in the toilet? Negative on that one too.

Read all of The Russert Send-Off here. I liked Tim, I watched the show regularly, but I agree with some of this.

Quiet Riot

I didn't hear shit on the news about Rep. Dennis Kucinich calling for the impeachment of President Bush on the floor the other day. See the video here. Of course this isn't as important as Obama's fist bump or the latest celebutard news, so it's no surprise this didn't make the front page.

Save Your Ammo

Cost of bullets shoots upward.

...millions of shooters, hunters and even lawmen across the United States [are] feeling the pinch as sky-high metals prices and demand from wars abroad are driving up the price of bullets.

"They are Destroying the Constitution"

RFK Jr. on war, torture, crony capitalism, media, and much more.

Photo source

The Only Thing You Have to Fear...

...is living in fear. A column by Fareed Zakaria.