Majority of Americans believe Snowden did the right thing
Fifty-five percent of registered American voters consider former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to be a whistleblower, and only 34 percent call him a traitor - despite U.S. lawmakers labeling him as such.A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University found that the majority of Americans perceive Snowden as a man who exposed the inappropriate...U.S. walks tightrope in wake of Egypt coup
WASHINGTON — July 3's coup d’etat against the elected government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has placed the administration of President Barack Obama in an uncomfortable position on a number of fronts.Most immediately, it will be pressed to decide whether Morsi’s ouster constituted the kind of military coup that requires a...U.S. mulls sending military training teams to Lebanon and Iraq
WASHINGTON - U.S. military commanders are examining ways the U.S. could bolster security in Syria’s neighboring countries, and have recommended sending military trainers to Lebanon and Iraq.Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, on Wednesday revealed U.S. plans to strengthen military assistance in Lebanon and Iraq as...
Senate passes sweeping immigration legislation
June 28th, 20130 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate approved a landmark immigration bill on Thursday that would provide millions of undocumented immigrants a chance to become citizens but the leader of the House of Representatives said the measure was dead on arrival in the House.In a rare show of bi-partisanship, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the...
Idaho company creates pork-laced bullets to target Muslims
June 28th, 20130 IDAHO - South Fork Industries, a gun company in the State of Idaho, is selling "Jihawg Ammunition," a pork-laced bullet that serves as a "deterrent to the ever-growing threat of radical Islam and Sharia Law."According to the South Fork Industries' website, the idea of these bullets came as a response to the construction of an Islamic...Supreme Court strikes down key voting rights provision
ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court struck down a key provision, Section 4, of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 in a five to four ruling this week, halting enforcement of Section 5 of the act.One of the key achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, the act was intended to address historical, entrenched racial discrimination in voting...WHO: Violence against women causes “global health epidemic”
NEW YORK - More than a third of all women worldwide are victims of physical or sexual violence, posing a global health problem of epidemic proportions, according to a recent World Health Organization report. The vast majority of women are attacked or abused by their husbands or boyfriends, and common health problems they suffer...Poll: Americans oppose Obama on arming rebels
WASHINGTON - According to a new poll from the Pew Center, 70 percent of Americans oppose the Obama administration’s recently-revealed plans to send light weaponry to the Syrian rebels.The poll, conducted in roughly equal parts before and after the U.S. government revealed that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against the...Toward a U.S.-Iranian detente
Last Friday’s presidential and local council elections in Iran show that the Islamic Republic is far more stable and politically dynamic than Western conventional wisdom commonly acknowledges.Moreover, the election of Hassan Rohani — who headed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council for 16 years and was Tehran’s...Obama’s Syria policy looks a lot like Bush’s Iraq policy’
Did the White House’s remarks about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons sound familiar? Former congressman Ron Paul says the build up to a likely strike on Syria reminds him of the days before the invasion of Iraq.Paul, the longtime Republican lawmaker from Texas, who retired last year following an unsuccessful...
Rights groups file lawsuit to challenge NYPD’s Muslim surveillance program
June 21st, 20130 NEW YORK – Civil rights groups across the country say the NYPD is routinely violating the civil rights of Muslims across New York City by operating an unconstitutional religious profiling surveillance program, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by New York City residents represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the...U.S. Syria hawks can’t get any traction
WASHINGTON — With Syrian government forces and their allies scoring a major victory over Western- and Gulf Arab-backed rebel forces this week, neo-conservatives and other anti-Damascus hawks are trying hard to turn up the pressure on President Barack Obama to sharply escalate U.S. support for the opposition.But their appeals...
Shady companies with ties to Israel wiretap the U.S. for the NSA
June 14th, 20130 Army General Keith Alexander, the director of the NSA, is having a busy year — hopping around the country, cutting ribbons at secret bases and bringing to life the agency’s greatly expanded eavesdropping network.In January, he dedicated the new $358 million CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building at NSA Hawaii, and in March he unveiled the...FBI director says U.S. will hold Snowden responsible on NSA leak
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday that the U.S. government is doing everything it can to hold confessed leaker Edward Snowden accountable for splashing surveillance secrets across the pages of newspapers worldwide. FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Federal...Immigration bill clears early test vote; Obama calls for action
The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday, June 11, to begin debate and amendments on a historic immigration bill, burying a procedural roadblock that opponents regularly use to delay or even kill legislation.With November's election results indicating broad support for updating the country's immigration laws, even some senators who have......
Activists urge National 9/11 Museum to acknowledge historic “Little Syria” in permanent exhibition
June 14th, 20130 NEW YORK — Activists are continuing to urge the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center to acknowledge “Little Syria” in its permanent exhibition. Throughout the late 1880s, up until the 1940s, the area around the World Trade Center was known for having a vibrant and growing Arab American community....Rice replaces Donilon as Obama’s top foreign policy adviser
WASHINGTON, UNITED NATIONS — In a reshuffle of top foreign policy posts in his second term, President Barack Obama announced on June 5 that his controversial and blunt-spoken U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, will replace Tom Donilon as his national security adviser.He also announced that another longtime aide on the National Security...Obama administration defends massive surveillance program
The Obama administration defended on Thursday June 6 its collection of the telephone records of millions of Americans as part of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, re-igniting a fierce debate over privacy even as it called the program critical to warding off an attack.The admission came after Britain's Guardian newspaper published on...Russia struggles with U.S. and France to shape Geneva II
The Russians are on the offensive; the Americans are playing the role of the listener, and sometimes the arbiter; and the French are playing the role of the Syrian opposition’s defender. Thus seemed Monday’s (May 27) meeting that grouped the foreign ministers of Russia, Sergey Lavrov; the U.S., John Kerry; and France, Laurent......
McCain seen with Lebanese pilgrims’ kidnappers during visit to Syria
Aleppo - The Obama administration said on Tuesday it knew in advance of a trip to Syria by U.S. Senator John McCain, a visit that raised questions over whether the Republican senator met with the kidnappers of a group of Lebanese pilgrims held hostage for the past year.U.S. officials had little to say about the trip by McCain, an...Study: American Muslims volunteer twice as much as general public
Just over a month after the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent arrest of one of the Muslim suspects, the spotlight has once again fallen on the American Muslim community. Yet, very little data exists about American Muslim communities. A new study, released by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), provides a......
Pentagon: The Chinese stole our newest weapons
The designs for more than two dozen major weapons systems used by the United States military have fallen into the hands of the Chinese, US Department of Defense officials say.Blueprints for the Pentagon’s most advanced weaponry, including the Black Hawk helicopter and the brand new Littoral Combat Ship, used by the Navy, have all been...Experts: Immigration reform would boost Michigan, nation’s economy
Michigan United and the Center for American Progress, joined by experts from around Michigan, held a phone press conference on May 23 to highlight the positive economic impact that immigration reform would have on the state and the country.Last month, a group of bipartisan senators, known as "the Gang of Eight," introduced to the Senate......
