The U.S. State Department has quietly put Russian officials connected to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on a visa blacklist as Moscow threatens to curtail cooperation on Iran, North Korea, Libya and the transit of supplies for Afghanistan if the Senate passes a measure imposing even tougher sanctions for human rights abuses. The Russian government has grown ever more infuriated by a series of... 

In 1971, President Richard Nixon, motivated by addiction among US soldiers in Vietnam, told Congress drug abuse was “public enemy number one”. Despite decades of battling against narcotics, the levels of addiction, trafficking and violence continue to rise. The war on drugs has failed. Now, politicians in Latin America are calling to review all options, from full legalisation to a new war. Four... 

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim would not name the officials who participated in talks over the weekend. Libyan and U.S. officials say the two governments held face-to-face talks in Tunisia over the weekend, but Washington says the sole point of the meeting was to repeat its demand that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi “must go.” The disclosure came nearly four months into the bombardment... 

Philippine Army Clinton Calls for Restraint, Announces More Weapons Transfers. With the disputes over the unpopulated Spratly Islands continuing to grow, the Obama Administration has announced that it is preparing a major increase in arms shipments to the Philippines to prepare the nation to fight a war with China. The announcement came at a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Philippines... 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked Russia to support a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria. Clinton made the call during a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, AFP reported. “With regard to Syria, their discussion focused on action... 

House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican Stepping up a simmering constitutional conflict, House Speaker John A. Boehner warned President Obama on Tuesday that unless he gets authorization from Congress for his military deployment in Libya, he will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution. In a letter sent Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Boehner, the top Republican in the constitutional chain of succession,... 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure from the United States to accept President Barack Obama’s peace proposal, Haaretz has reported today. According to an Israeli source, Washington is becoming frustrated with Netanyahu’s behaviour, and feels that he is deliberately hindering US efforts to prevent the Palestinians from seeking UN recognition of statehood... 

Thats right. The Fed owns NO gold. Zero, zip, ziltch. For those of you who did not watch yesterday’s monetary policy hearing in the house of representatives, you most likely missed this bombshell exchange between Federal Reserve lawyer Scott Alvarez and committee chairman Dr. Ron Paul. My jaw literally dropped when I heard the Fed’s general counsel declare that the Federal Reserve owns no gold.... 

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela has severed its relations with the US after Washington imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company for supplying gasoline to Iran. According to examiner.com, Venezuela officially “froze” relations with the United States on Sunday, a top diplomat from President Hugo Chavez’s government said. Venezuelan Foreign Minister... 

PROTECT IP Act could censor anything, including search engines. The controversial PROTECT IP Act unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee today. When the PROTECT IP Act becomes law U.S. authorities and copyright holders will have the power to seize domains, block websites and censor search engines to prevent copyright infringements. Introduced just two weeks ago, the bill now heads over to... 

The real irony of of this was Netanyahu’s speech in response to Rae Abileah’s protest: “You know, I take it as a badge of honor, and so should you, that in our free societies you can have protests. You can’t have these protests in the farcical parliaments in Tehran or in Tripoli. This is real democracy!” “This is real democracy”, said Netanyahu as the woman... 

The Defense Authorization Act or H.R. 1540, aka The Forever War Act of 2012, was overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives earlier today on a vote of 322 to 96. The Senate will now vote on its own version and then the two bills will need to be reconciled before going to Barry Obama for his signature into law. The law authorizes the United States to use military force anywhere it says... 

Obama has proposed legislation that will give the Department of Homeland Security more “autonomy” in its effort to protect civilian computer networks from ostensible cyber attack, according to Information Week. White House officials testified Monday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the comprehensive plan presented by the administration two weeks ago... 

Netanyahu Addresses US Congress in Unfettered Unapologetic Strange Love Fest. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for approximately 50 minutes to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. The politicians/sycophants greeted the Jewish leader with a four minute standing ovation along with another 26 standing ovations and 30 rounds of applause. They know who their master is! Netanyahu made... 

Sen. Rand Paul, shown last month, led opposition on the Senate floor Monday, arguing that the Patriot Act's provisions allow the government to peer too deeply into Americans' private lives. Senators vote overwhelmingly to extend the anti-terrorism law for four years despite objections of a coalition of conservatives and liberals. The House is expected to follow suit. The Senate voted overwhelmingly...