Fifteen months on, the short Syrian spring of 2011 has long since morphed into a harsh winter of discontent. Syria is close to full-scale civil war. If the conflict escalates further, it will have ramifications far outside the country itself. As former UN Secretary-General and current envoy of both the UN and the Arab League Kofi Annan put it, “'Syria is not Libya, it will not implode, it will explode beyond its borders."

Like so many other times before, the human cost of this conflict is incalculably high. It’s not surprising that the normal human reaction is “we’ve got to do something!” But exactly what any army or air force might do that would actually help the situation isn’t very clear. U.S./NATO military intervention didn’t bring stability, democracy or security to Libya, and it certainly is not going to do so in Syria.

Barring a CIA drone strike on the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's sudden appeal for asylum there may spare him a prison stay in Sweden or possibly the United States. Assange's freedom now depends largely on Ecuadorian President Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado, a new breed of independent-minded leader like Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Correa has been a harsh critic of U.S. behavior toward Ecuador and its Latin American neighbors as well as an outspoken fan of WikiLeaks. Atypically for the region, Ecuador is not a major recipient of U.S. economic or military aid, so Washington's leverage is limited. This suggests that the Ecuadorian government may decide to defy Washington, accept Assange's request for asylum, and have him flown to Ecuador pronto.

In which case, most British "justice" officials will probably say good riddance and breathe a sigh of relief — literally. They have been holding their noses for weeks against the odor of their obeisance to U.S. diktat, after the British High Court rejected Assange's argument that he should not be extradited to Sweden.

Activists from the East coast to the West Coast and places in between arrived in the Ohio capitol last week for an event sponsored by 350.org called ‘Don’t Frack Ohio.’ Supported by dozens of other state and national organizations such as ‘Food and Water Watch’ ‘Center for Health, Environment and Justice’ ‘Buckeye Forest Council’ ‘Ohio Sierra Club’ ‘Neogap’ ‘EcoWatch’ ‘Non-Toxic Ohio’ and ‘Frack Free Ohio’, the voices of many came together as one in this action, which may well have been the largest anti-fracking protest in the United States to date.

We've become a nation that callously kills. Meticulous researchers have documented that U.S. drones are killing many innocent civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Drones are making the world less stable and creating new enemies. We must end the use of weaponized drones. Add your name now.
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