BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S. State Department has quietly approved
the sale of 16 missiles -- plus training -- to Thailand in a $27
million deal, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

China and Thailand meanwhile began their first joint military air
exercise with 180 Chinese officers and top pilots this week, at a Thai
base used by the U.S. Air Force to bomb Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
during the Vietnam War.

The U.S. missiles deal, and the newest integration of Chinese and Thai
forces, are the latest successes by Bangkok's coup-installed junta to
attract military support from both Beijing and Washington, despite
pro-democracy activists demanding an end to the regime.

China and Thailand are conducting their Falcon Strike air exercise at
the Royal Thai Air Force Base at Korat city, also known as Nakhon
Ratchasima, from November 12 to November 30.

"For years, indeed decades, this [Thai-Chinese] cooperation would have
been not only politically unthinkable, but technically impossible, as

When word began to spread on election night that Athens County – a long-time stronghold for Ohio marijuana legalization – was soundly defeating Issue 3 by nearly 30 percentage points the death knell for medical marijuana in the state became earsplitting.

The pro-legalization base in Ohio was mostly unified in their defiance of the oligopoly Issue 3 tried to create. An anti-corporate push back in the age of Occupy. The Free Press itself was critical of ResponsibleOhio and its big money investors who clearly had aspirations of astronomical profits for years to come.

But not all marijuana activists stood behind those who believed the issue was putting a massive marijuana industry in the hands of a few.

The activists who did support Issue 3 say the base’s outrage over marijuana corporatization may have blinded them. Building up enough contempt that it took away any compassion for the many Ohioans who use medical marijuana (illegally) for whatever ailment they have.

For many people, it is easier, safer and more comfortable to live in a world of delusion, particularly when this delusion requires no effort to seek out and understand truths that might prove unpalatable. If the delusion is one that is reinforced by the persistent promulgation of elite propaganda, then the idea of questioning the delusion might not even arise.

Since the publication of vast troves of official documents by Wikileaks, however, knowledge of deeper geopolitical realities has exited the select world of progressive academia, exemplified by scholars such as Noam Chomsky, with its enthusiastic but relatively limited audience in activist circles, to become more readily and widely available.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State, the people of Ohio defeated a November 3 proposition to legalize marijuana by a tally of nearly 2:1.

The official vote count is not plausible.  

The assertion that the election was probably stolen fits a well-established Ohio pattern of official manipulation of electronic poll books and voting machines.    

Issue 3’s promoters should demand a recount, though the system is rigged and they would certainly be stonewalled. As in 2004, critical election records are likely to not materialize even though they are legally required to be maintained.  

Given evidence at very least from Cincinnati, Dayton and at least three pre-election statewide polls, the margin of defeat approaches the range of virtual statistical impossibility.  

The controversial measure would have established an oligarchy of ten licensed growers operating regulated indoor grow sites of up to 300,000 square feet each. The pro-marijuana activist community was divided on the measure (disclosure: Bob voted against it, Harvey voted for it).  

Here are some basic facts: