Paris Attacks: A Summary

Ken AshfordWar on Terrorism/Torture1 Comment

There were seven coordinated terror attacks in Paris carried out by militants, killing at least 129 people. The first attacks were launched virtually simultaneously, with two explosions close to the Stade de France at just after 9.20pm local time, four miles apart. The explosions came as a large crowd were enjoying the first half of the international friendly between France … Read More

Bad News Coming Out Of Paris

Ken AshfordBreaking News, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Looks like a series of pre-planned coordinated terrorist attacks happening in different places throughout Paris. Also a reported hostage situation at the Paris Bataclan concert hall. 18 killed in central Paris according to another report. A possible response to the killing of Jihadi John by a U.S. drone strike? Two explosions were heard outside the Stade de France stadium north … Read More

Bush 41 On Cheney and Rumsfeld

Ken AshfordHistory, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Dad was a far better president than sons.  Of course, Dad could never be elected in today’s uber-conservative GOP.  But I always had a soft spot for the elder Bush.  And here’s why.  According to the New York Times: …the elder Bush told biographer Jon Meacham that Cheney “had his own empire there and marched to his own drummer.” Calling … Read More

Russian Plane Crash In Egypt

Ken AshfordLibya, Middle East, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

A Russian charter plane crashed over the weekend on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.  All 224 aboard the Airbus jetliner were killed, with company executives ruling out technical or human error only to be upbraided by aviation officials who called such assertions premature. The Metrojet flight full of mostly Russian vacationers, bound for St. Petersburg from the Egyptian resort of … Read More

The Problem With Trump-Bush-9/11 And Clinton-Benghazi-9/11

Ken AshfordHistory, Libya, Political Scandals, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

I know I’m not the first to bring it up, but there is a huge disconnect going on right now when you tie together to seemingly separate stories. Trump is saying that since 9/11 happened during Bush 43’s watch, Bush 43 bears some culpability.  This makes Jeb Bush act all defensive, because (he seems to argue) the President cannot micromanage … Read More

A Tweet From 2009 Could Haunt Rubio

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Gun Control, IranLeave a Comment

I’ve always seen Marco Rubio as one of the few “serious” GOP candidates and one who could pose an actual challenge to HRC.  But this tweet of his from 2009 is very… uh… Carsonesque. What a dumb thing to tweet.  It originally was published in the midst of the June 2009 protests stemming from allegations of elections fraud and the violent … Read More

14-year-Old Kid Named Ahmed Builds A Clock; Gets Arrested For Building A Bomb

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

This happened in Texas, so…. no surprise. Ahmed Mohamed — who makes his own radios and repairs his own go-kart — hoped to impress his teachers when he brought a homemade clock to MacArthur High on Monday. Instead, the school phoned police about Ahmed’s circuit-stuffed pencil case. So the 14-year-old missed the student council meeting and took a trip in … Read More

Michael Stipe Loses His Religion

Ken AshfordElection 2016, IranLeave a Comment

There was a poorly-attended Tea Party rally against the Iran nuclear deal Wednesday, and at the rally, Donald Trump used the R.E.M. song, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” as his walk-on music. The band was not amused: R.E.M. Slam Trump: ‘Go Fuck Yourselves’. “Go fuck yourselves, the lot of you — you … Read More

Cheap Clothes Of Exploitation

Ken AshfordWomen's Issues, WorldLeave a Comment

At 6:45 p.m. on November 24, 2012, the fire alarm went off on the fourth floor of a nondescript building in the suburbs of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Inside, nearly 1,200 garment workers were on deadline, scrambling to complete an order. When the bells started ringing, they asked if they could leave. Their managers told them to go back to their machines. … Read More

Tensions In The Koreas

Ken AshfordNorth KoreaLeave a Comment

This is ugly: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered front-line military units to enter “a wartime state” after an exchange of fire with South Korea, his country’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Friday. The announcement, employing bellicose language typical of North Korea, adds to the edgy situation in the region. The two sides traded artillery fire over … Read More

Obama Calls Out The Iraq War Prevaricators

Ken AshfordIran, IraqLeave a Comment

President Obama’s speech on the Iran nuke deal was a classic. He made a convincing argument for supporting the agreement and provides a plausible overview of what will happen if Congress doesn’t approve it. But he also talked about those opposing the deal, pointing out that these people are the same ones who got us into a costly and pointless … Read More