As residents of Louisiana this week struggle to recover from "one of the worst floods in modern history," there is a chance that federal aid may not be so forthcoming thanks to a trio of Bayou State Republicans, who back in 2013 voted against helping victims of another storm: Sandy. House majority whip Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. John Fleming, and Sen. Bill Cassidy all cast their votes against the [...]

The first president and the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev celebrates its 85th birthday on Wednesday, March 2. Gorbachev has been praised by millions around the world – especially in the West — as the man who put Russia on the road to democracy and ended the Cold War. [...]

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry's is talking about filing a lawsuit against Russia over suspected violations of international maritime law in Crimea. In response, Crimean authorities suggest that maybe it's time they file charges of their own against Kiev from when the peninsula was part of Ukraine for what they say amounts to "20 years of plunder." [...]

Russia's current actions in the Middle East show how Moscow can catch the West by surprise, according to Thomas Avenarius, a journalist writing for the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. It seems that the West has been caught by surprise by Russia's current actions in the Middle East, [...]

The Most Honest 6 Minutes Off-TV Ever This is a clip taken from the premiere episode of the American television political drama series "The Newsroom" created and principally written by Aaron Sorkin. It premiered on HBO on June 24, 2012. The clip features Jeff Daniels answering the question, "Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?" with a very thought-provoking answer. Rare [...]

Although Hillary Clinton selected Tim Kaine as her Vice President in this campaign, her true running mate might very well be her vagina. Indeed, while Clinton’s support continues to be among the lowest for any Democratic nominee in recent memory, she has managed to position her gender as a focal point of her campaign, a move intended to capture the women’s vote among liberals and conservatives [...]

The media has had a field day commenting on Donald Trump's words about cooperation with Russia against ISIS, labeling him a 'Kremlin agent' and a danger to the Western security order. But what about Hillary Clinton and her foundation's ties to the Saudis? If Trump is 'Moscow's man', does that make Clinton the candidate of Middle Eastern sheikdoms? [...]

Turkey's foreign minister has recalled its Austrian ambassador for "consultations" in the wake of a rally held in Vienna in support of the PKK. "In response to recent events, we have withdrawn our ambassador from Vienna for consultations and to review our relations with Austria," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters. [...]

To stave off Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton became a born-again progressive, critical of trade deals and tough on fracking, but her preparations for a presidential transition presage a pro-corporate and hawkish administration, says Norman Solomon. Like other Bernie Sanders delegates in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, I kept hearing about the crucial need to close ranks behind Hillary Clinton. � [...]

Moscow possesses strong evidence that Ukraine really prepared sabotage in the Crimea. Russia is ready to provide representatives of the Western countries with this evidence, Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said. ‘We really don’t conceal what is known, we show people who were detained, stores with weapons and munition, which were detected in the Crimea. [Elite_video_player [...]

Social media users are in a panic after WikiLeaks said an unknown man had climbed the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Julian Assange has been staying for four years. Users suggested that it was probably an assassination attempt, “ordered by Clinton.” [...]

Germany is on high terror alert following another round of attacks that have shocked the country leading Germany to urge citizens to stockpile resources for the first time since the Cold War. The German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of a catastrophic terror attack the Frankfurther Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday as the country find [...]

Russian officials have reached out to Ankara to request access to the American-built base as a convenient launch pad for airstrikes in the Syrian theater, but it remains to be seen whether such cooperation will roil NATO’s feathers. Russia has called on Turkey to provide access to NATO’s Incirlik Air Base, the critical launch pad for US and coalition airstrikes in Syria [...]

Earlier this week, a senior Chinese military officer visited Damascus to discuss closer ties between Syria and China. Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China's Central Military Commission, met Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij, Xinhua reported. [...]

Speaking on the conservative "Savage Nation" radio show, the Republican nominee was undeterred by weeks of media attacks labeling him a secret agent of the Kremlin vowing cooperation with Russia in the fight against Daesh while working to resolve conflicts between the countries. [...]

Give CNN just a little credit. On Wednesday night, they hosted a Town Hall featuring Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. In those 90 Prime Time minutes, Stein and Baraka presented a clearer picture of the realities and consequences of US foreign policy and militarism than we heard from Bernie Sanders in a year’s worth of speeches. [...]

The U.S. government, having illegally sent American troops into Syria, is now threatening to attack the Syrian military if it endangers those troops, an Orwellian twist that marks a dangerous escalation, explains Daniel Lazare. War, like politics, is filled with surprises. While the focus in Syria has been on a U.S.-backed rebel offensive in Aleppo [...]

Washington’s neocon hypocrisy surfaced again with the furor over Russia using an Iranian base to launch airstrikes against terror groups in Syria, while the U.S. uses other Mideast bases for the same purpose, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar notes. We should reflect on the meaning of Russia’s use of a base in Iran for staging airstrikes in Syria, and about what lessons we could learn from t [...]

Ankara wouldn’t mind it if Russia used the Incirlik airbase for its anti-terror missions against Islamic State terrorists in Syria, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hinted on Saturday, but acknowledged that no such requests have been made. “Turkey opened Incirlik airbase to fight Daesh [Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL] terrorists. It is being used by the US and Qatar. [...]

Russia’s air raids in Syria, launched from Iranian territory this week, were received by Washington with a mixture of consternation and disappointment. Understandably, too. It marks a breakthrough in Russia’s standing in the Middle East. Russia is working closely in a quartet that includes Iran, Iraq and Syria. [...]

Counter measures will be taken by US troops in case they “feel threatened” by Syrian or Russian air forces, according to a senior US military official. The warning comes in the wake of a recent incident with Syrian warplanes attacking areas close to US Special Forces. [...]

Georgi Gotev, the author of an article about the US transferring its nuclear weapons in Turkey to Romania, insists that the information obtained from his own sources can be trusted, and promised to follow up on this subject. [...]