Wednesday in the Age of Reason-Munchausen (1988)

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/28/humanitarian-occupation-of-haiti-100-years-and-counting/

http://boingboing.net/2015/07/28/virgin-galactic-crash-blamed-o.html

n the report released today, NTSB also found fault with the Federal Aviation Administration for not recognizing that Scaled’s hazard analysis hadn’t fully accounted for the likelihood of human error. FAA had been under pressure to approve the SpaceShipTwo application within 120 days, and communication with Scaled’s staff was lacking.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/28/bikini-nuclear-test-survivors-demand-compensation.html

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/chomsky-interview-citizens-united-democracy-higher-education/

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/24/documents-show-department-homeland-security-monitoring-black-lives-matter-since-ferguson/

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/monroe-doctrine-1915-occupation-duvalier/

terror?

Exporting Armed Drones – The United States Sets Policy
By: Barry Kellman

The U.S. State Department recently announced a new policy for exports of military drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). Military drones are today’s most sophisticated tools for aerial surveillance, capable of persistent and distant overflight of any terrain. While not all military drones can fire weapons, armed drones have generated controversy because of their prominent role in targeted killings of foreign and American supporters of terrorist organizations.

The new policy raises two distinct sets of legal issues. First are issues pertaining to the State Department’s determination that the new policy satisfies the United States Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy and guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Second are issues pertaining to whether using armed drones for targeted killings is legal in international law. This essay concludes that various reasons support the new policy, but a wider set of concerns about the legality of targeted killings using remotely operated weapons remain unaddressed.