By Michael Collins

(Washington, DC 7/11/12) Hillary Clinton has a very serious problem. She thinks that she runs the world and that those who disobey her must be punished, China and Russia in particular. Our chief diplomat behaves like a drunken bully, makes rash demands, and spoils for a fight with countries that can do some serious damage. (Image: Sascha W)
Over what? Regime change in Syria. Clinton is the tip of the spear for the project to control the Arab Spring movement. Her efforts have little to do with democracy. It is about controlling the agenda in the oil rich Middle East and the effort to prop up the decadent Saudis royals and other oil rich leaders hiding behind a nebulous organization called the Gulf Cooperation Council.
By Michael Collins
We don’t have a substantial cushion between today's climate and dangerous warming. James E. Hanson

The head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James E. Hansen, announced the results of break through global warming research last week. The earth's temperature is rising at a much quicker pace than previously anticipated according to research by the nation's preeminent climate scientist. We have little time to reverse the trend. (Image)
An example of the dangerous pace of change is emerging on Russia's Eastern Siberian Arctic Shelf. Long-frozen permafrost is beginning to melt due to global warming. This threat was identified years ago due to the potential for highly toxic releases of heat-trapping methane gas. Recent changes are both a surprise and a cause for alarm. There is more methane gas released from the Russian cauldron "than the CH4 emissions estimate for the entire world ocean." Methane is a "far more potent GHG [greenhouse gas] than CO2" with a greater potential to cause "abrupt climate change."
By Michael Collins

Monday was the day we heard that the "US believes al-Qa'ida is on the verge of defeat after deputy leader's death" as The Independent headlined the story. It stood out as a sequel to the recent United States action in Pakistan, which brought us the news (but not the body) of a dead Osama bin Laden. It appears that a US operated drone killed Al Qaeda's top deputy, one Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan citizen. After decades as a jihadist, Rahman is no more. But is that the end of al Qaeda?
On Tuesday, foreign affairs columnist for the Asia Times, Pepe Escobar, published a remarkable column outlining the command structure of the victorious NATO backed military leaders. Abdelhakim Belhaj, the lead commander of the rebels, and the two top regional commanders were once affiliated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LGIF). In fact, commander Belhaj was once the subject of a US led extraordinary rendition (aka torture) in Thailand. About the time the US planned to send Belhaj to Guantanamo Bay, the Gaddafi's government requested his return to Libya.
Terrorist Rehab, Libyan Style
At this point, you may be thinking, "Good grief, that's when the real torture started!" Au contraire! The request for repatriation came from none other than Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya's former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
James Petras

The US government (White House and Congress) spends $10 billion dollars a month, or $120 billion a year, to fight an estimated “50 -75 ‘Al Qaeda types’ in Afghanistan”, according to the CIA and quoted in the Financial Times of London (6/25 -26/11, p. 5). During the past 30 months of the Obama presidency, Washington has spent $300 billion dollars in Afghanistan, which adds up to $4 billion dollars for each alleged ‘Al Queda type’. If we multiply this by the two dozen or so sites and countries where the White House claims ‘Al Qaeda’ terrorists have been spotted, we begin to understand why the US budget deficit has grown astronomically to over $1.6 trillion for the current fiscal year.
James Petras

Over the past two weeks Libya has been subjected to the most brutal imperial air, sea and land assault in its modern history. Thousands of bombs and missiles, launched from American and European submarines, warships and fighter planes, are destroying Libyan military bases, airports, roads, ports, oil depots, artillery emplacements, tanks, armored carriers, planes and troop concentrations. Dozens of CIA and SAS special forces have been training, advising and mapping targets for the so-called Libyan ‘rebels’ engaged in a civil war against the Gaddafi government, its armed forces, popular militias and civilian supporters (NY Times 3/30/11).
Despite this massive military support and their imperial ‘allies’ total control of Libya’s sky and coastline, the ‘rebels’ have proven incapable of mobilizing village or town support and are in retreat after being confronted by the Libyan government’s highly motivated troops and village militias (Al Jazeera 3/30/11).
By Katherine Smith
Headline today (August 8, 2010) [Notice the word "apparently" in the title]
Matt Simmons “apparently” drowned at his home Sunday night
NORTH HAVEN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - The Knox County Sheriff's Department says Matthew Simmons, the founder of the Ocean Energy Institute, drowned at his house on North Haven late Sunday night.
Simmons was a leading investment banker for the energy industry and had recently retired to work full time on the new Ocean Energy Institute.
He was a leading proponent of offshore wind power and had started raising money to develop and build offshore turbines.
The news release fails to mention Simmons was the leading proponent of sending a small nuclear bomb down the BP leaking well:
May 29 – Simmons, a “prominent energy expert” and investment banker known for predicting the oil price spike of 2008, tells Bloomberg News on Friday, sending a small nuclear bomb down the leaking well is "probably the only thing we can do" to stop the leak.
I have been working with Dr. Tom Termotto, the National Coordinator of the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference to ensure that the BP oil spill didn’t become
"A radioactive oil spill."
Below is an expose on Matt Simmons, which was ready for publication when the BP well was finally capped without resorting to a nuclear device.
The material was useful to Dr. Tom Termotto when he was interviewed on Rense Radio July 19 just four days before the BP well was finally capped.
Jeff Rense' first question was, if Dr. Termotto would consider Matt Simmon’s nuclear option to cap the well? Tom immediately interjected and made it clear that we should never, never ever consider a nuclear option to cap the well, and went on to relentlessly discredit Matt Simmons throughout the interview.
Here is the expose provided to Dr. Termotto:
By Katherine Smith
The timing of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which on August 2, 2010 formally brought a case against Congresswoman Maxine Waters, one of America’s most enduring liberal and fierce Anti War politicians, and the WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of Army documents related to the war in Afghanistan may be connected.
Speculation by bloggers, including John Young of Cryptome.com, and an expose at The Intel Hub that the WikiLeaks is part of a disinformation operation, and that the documents themselves could even be fake, should put every left leaning American on Yellow alert.
Fox News wasted no time exploiting the WikiLeaks documents to further vilify Iran, pointing out that the documents indicate the U.S. belief that Iran is arming the Taliban insurgency. This adds another layer to Fox's steady stream of propaganda that has flowed over the years advocating for an attack on the country, and stands as a reason why some believe the leak was staged. WikiLeaks documents-- disinformation or not-- are being used for anti-Iran propaganda, OpEdNews
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins

One of the fictions propagated in American history courses – of the order of Washington throwing a dollar coin across the Potomac – is the theory that America always comes up with brilliant leaders at a time of crisis. Witness Washington himself, and Lincoln, Wilson, or Franklin Roosevelt (Republicans will throw in Reagan for balance). This was supposed to have something to do with the genius of the Constitution and the American political system’s ability to surface political talent.
A time of crisis is certainly upon the US, and the entire globe for that matter. The financial system is ratcheting itself down step by step into a total, catastrophic collapse, bringing default and ruin to over-leveraged borrowers everywhere. The global economy’s dependence on petroleum is more and more seen as a point of extreme fragility which could, like the corrupt financial order, bring economic growth to a complete halt. The nations of the world cannot agree what to do about global warming, and this failure alone seems to show we are incapable of setting aside personal gain for the common good, even when the survival of so many species (including our own) is at stake.