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Robot Wars and the Future of the US Military

Source: Fault Lines, Al Jazeera

What is the role of drones and robots in wars and how will they shape the future of the US military?

Over the past decade, the US military has shifted the way it fights its wars, deploying more unmanned systems in the battlefield than ever before.

Today there are more than 7,000 drones and 12,000 ground robots in use by all branches of the military.

These systems mean less American deaths and also less political risk for the US when it takes acts of lethal force – often outside of official war zones.

But US lethal drone strikes in countries like Pakistan have brought up serious questions about the legal and political implications of using these systems. read more

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Video – The Top 1% in the US: The Rich and the Rest

With 1% of Americans controlling 40% of the country’s wealth, we examine the gap between the rich and the rest.

The richest one per cent of Americans earn nearly a quarter of the country’s income and control an astonishing 40 per cent of its wealth.

Inequality in the US is more extreme than it has been in almost a century – and the gap between the super-rich and the poor and middle class people has widened drastically over the last 30 years.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a bitter partisan debate over how to cut deficit spending and reduce the US’ $14.3 trillion debt is underway. As low and middle class wages stagnate and unemployment remains above nine per cent, Republicans and Democrats are tussling over whether to slash funding for the medical and retirement programmes that are the backbone of the US’ social safety net, and whether to raise taxes – or to cut them further. read more

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Colombia’s Gold Rush

Source: Fault Lines, Al Jazeera

Gold fever is sweeping across South America. Nowhere is it more lethal than in Colombia, where the gold rush has become a new axle in Colombia’s civil war.

Turf wars are erupting between paramilitaries and leftist rebel groups who are fighting to take control of mining regions. It is fuelling an old ideological conflict that has displaced thousands of people.

Helicopter raids by the Colombian army on small community mining collectives have become commonplace and the Colombian government is accused of targeting poor workers to protect big business interests and committing human rights violations with impunity. read more

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Is the US Contributing to the Militarization of Cyberspace?

Source: Faultlines

Cyberwar. A conflict without footsoldiers, guns, or missiles.

Instead the attacks are launched by computer hackers. Digital spy rings. Information thieves. Cyberarmies of kids, criminals, terrorists – some backed by nation states.

In the US there is a growing fear that they pose a massive threat to national security, and a conviction that the world’s military superpower must prepare for the fight ahead.

At stake: Crucial national infrastructure, high value commercial secrets, tens of billions of dollars in defence contracts, as well as values like privacy and freedom of expression. read more

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The High and the Mighty: Legalizing Marijuana?

Source: Al Jazeera

Cannabis is California’s number one cash crop. This fall, voters will decide whether or not to fully legalize the drug and transform US drug policy.

The implications are huge if it passes. It will have a profound effect on the state’s struggling economy, the overburdened criminal justice system and even the raging drug war in neighboring Mexico that has claimed nearly 30,000 lives.

In the meantime, no politicians running for statewide office are supporting the measure. What does that say about the politics of cannabis? read more