From Somalia to the Congo, United Nations-supported troops and “peacekeepers” are killing, raping, and displacing civilians on an unprecedented scale, charge human-rights groups.

An Italian cruise ship carrying armed Israeli security guards successfully averted a hijacking attempt by Somali pirates late Saturday, according to multiple reports.  The MSC Melody, which was carrying more than 1,500 people, opened fire on the speed boat when the six men armed with Kalashnikov rifles tried to put a ladder on the bow.

Billionaire Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer accused the CIA of funding environmental extremists seeking to cripple the nation’s industry, saying during a press conference that the money was being routed through conduits such as the infamous Rockefeller Foundation. And the Australians involved in the alleged plot are essentially committing “treason,” Palmer declared.

Founder Julian Assange (left) of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks plans to run for a seat in the Australian Senate while under house arrest in the United Kingdom, according to an announcement made by his organization over the weekend. The next election is expected sometime late in 2013 at the earliest.

If President Obama is reelected in 2012, he would unlawfully seek to infringe upon the God-given right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, warned National Rifle Association (NRA) executive vice president Wayne LaPierre on Friday.

Lawmakers in Washington State joined a growing nationwide rebellion this week against the federal government’s purported new power to indefinitely detain Americans suspected of certain crimes under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Legislators in Virginia, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and other states — as well as a broad coalition of activists spanning the entire political spectrum — are also working to kill what critics call the “treasonous” usurpation.

The White House unveiled its new domestic terror-war strategy, announcing that the federal government would be involving local schools and community-based officials in its efforts to identify and neutralize extremists. Critics in Congress blasted the Obama administration for omitting any mention of radical Islam, but there has been very little criticism so far of involving school children in the so-called “war.”

Democrat lawmakers and a coalition of radical activist groups are pushing for constitutional amendments to reverse the Supreme Court’s landmark “Citizens United” ruling, a decision that recognized that groups of people have a right to free speech even if they are acting together under the banner of a corporation, union, or non-profit organization.

A non-profit organization that receives taxpayer funding and works closely with the Department of Homeland Security is under fire for promoting unjustified terror and fear among the public about terrorism, claiming that Americans should be suspicious even of their best friends and neighbors.

Liberty-minded Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) announced plans this week to re-introduce a bill that would hold Transportation Security Agency (TSA) screeners liable for violating laws on sexual assault, as well as laws on the production of lewd images and potentially causing harm through mass radiation of passengers with so-called “naked body” scanners.

The legislation, called the “American Traveler Dignity Act,” would subject TSA employees to the same system of rules governing everyone else. “It means they are not above laws the rest of us must obey,” Paul explained in his July 5 “Texas Straight Talk” report announcing the decision to reintroduce the bill.