THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF GUN CONTROL, SCHOOL SHOOTING MYTHS, AND MORE

Obama’s New Year’s Resolution: Protect the Status Quo

by Amy Goodman

Amidst the White House and congressional theatrics surrounding the so-called fiscal-cliff negotiations, a number of bills were signed into law by President Barack Obama that renew some of the worst excesses of the Bush years. Largely ignored by the media, these laws further entrench odious policies like indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping and the continued operation of the U.S. gulag in Guantanamo. The deal to avert the fiscal cliff itself increases the likelihood that President Obama may yet scuttle an unprecedented cut in the Pentagon’s bloated budget. It’s not such a happy new year, after all.

Kids for Cash

Kids For Cash - NPR

Debate on Armed Police in Schools: Needed For Kid Safety or Part of the Student-to-Prison Pipeline?

Bahraini Opposition Vows Continued Protest after Sentences Upheld

Opposition activists in Bahrain are vowing to continue protests despite a court’s decision to uphold the prison terms of 13 top dissidents. The activists were sentenced by a military court in 2011, eight of them to life behind bars, after leading massive protests against Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy. Their terms were upheld by Bahrain’s top court on Monday, ending their legal options. Sheikh Ali Salman of the Bahraini opposition party Al Wefaq said protests will continue undeterred. Sheikh Ali Salman: "Demonstrations will continue following this type of ruling in the courts. And this kind of ruling will further build the strength for the people who are seeking democracy. We hope that a political solution emerges that gives priority to democracy, human rights and freedom, that will benefit everyone in Bahrain." Bahrain is a key U.S. government ally, hosting the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

A former adviser to Obama on security issues has forcefully come out against drone warfare, saying it is encouraging arms proliferation worldwide while causing unknown civilian casualties. Writing in this month’s issue of International Affairs, La Salle University’s Michael Boyle, an adviser on the Obama campaign’s counterterrorism expert group in 2007 and 2008, writes: "[Obama] has been just as ruthless and indifferent to the rule of law as his predecessor. ... The consequences can be seen in the targeting of mosques or funeral processions that kill non-combatants and tear at the social fabric of the regions where they occur. No one really knows the number of deaths caused by drones in these distant, sometimes ungoverned, lands."

McChrystal, Ex-Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, Questions Drone Warfare

Speaking to Reuters, the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, retired General Stanley McChrystal, became one of the highest-ranking former military officials to publicly question the drone attacks, saying: "The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes ... is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who’ve never seen one or seen the effects of one." (Democracy Now)