Daily Briefing—11th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire

Gold ‘Just Went Nuts’ to a New Record Over $1,230/oz.

“Interesting developments in gold today. It’s been higher all day, but really has gone nuts in the last hour,” Joe Weisenthal reports at Business Insider with this chart of the day

Report: U.S. Intel Knows Pak Authorities Have Mullah Omar ‘Captured’

In March, U.S. military intelligence was alerted that the alleged Taliban leader and bin Laden ally was in the captivity of the Pakistan government, Brad Thor reports. The truth probably depends on how you define the government of Pakistan.

Stephen Walt on the Israel Lobby (Video)

Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt, co-writer of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with Professor John Mearsheimer, was recently on the Pakistani program ‘Washington Report”. He discusses the impact of The Lobby, which “ties one hand behind America’s back”, on its role in “how American foreign policy works”—ignorant of “the fact is that unconditional support for Israel isn’t good for the United States” and “probably not even good for Israel”. He also discusses the “foolish” self-defeating nature of the Obama Adminsitration’s motivation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prof. Walt is a truly independent amoral Realpolitik theorist, one of the most compelling and informative political scientists of our time.

Daily Briefing—10th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire:

U.S. in for Almost $65bn of Near-Trillion Dollar Greece Bailout

The E.C.B.-I.M.F. bailout being compared to TARP and the fall of the Greek’s government’s solvency capacity’s parallels to the domino fall that became the Great Depression.

Greece, Democracy, Catastrophe (Video)

Greek democracy—a very loooong history, a very short future. What is next for them—and us.

Daily Briefing—8th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire

Daily Briefing—7th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire

Pentagon Bans Reporters From Gitmo Hearings for Naming Known Interrogator

Carol Rosenberg and three other reporters have been banned from covering future hearings at Guantánamo Bay by the Pentagon for naming an interrogator before being warned against it.

‘America: The Sucker of Last Resort’ (Video)

Alan Grayson tells you how you became part-owner of the toxic Red Roof Inn—but not really the owner at all, just the one covering the liabilities with your homes. And Ron Paul comments on Bernie Sanders ‘selling out’ to the banksters in gutting his ‘Audit the Fed’ bill.

Military Tribunal Testimony: Teenage Detainee Tortured, Threatened With Rape

At Omar Khadr’s military tribunal, one of his interrogators testified to threatening the boy with rape—adding to never-ending tragic story of the U.S. government war of terror.

Daily Briefing—6th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire:

No-Name Terrorists Now C.I.A. Drone Targets as U.S. Set to Expand Airstrikes

Noah Shachtman on the Obama Administration expansion to list of targets for extrajudicial assassinations—that routinely kills exponentially more civilians than militant leaders. The man behind the recently attempted Times Square bombing and Pakistan have both directly associated U.S. airstrikes in Pakistan with the attempted attack and the Administration is responding by granting approval to the C.I.A. to escalate the strikes.

Daily Briefing—5th May 2010

News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire