Showing posts with label infoWar. Show all posts

Saturday, August 18

Friday Digest - 17 August 2012 [Part 2, late delivery]

The new totalitarianism of surveillance technology

If you think that 24/7 tracking of citizens by biometric recognition systems is paranoid fantasy, just read the industry newsletters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/15/new-totalitarianism-surveillance-technology?CMP=email

Text Message Donations Good for Democracy, Risky for Privacy

Financial involvement in elections, even in small amounts, serves as a “gateway” to other forms of engagement in the political process – displaying lawn signs, volunteering for campaigns, passing out literature – and studies show that small donors are more likely to engage in these kinds of civic participation than large donors. Permitting small donations by text message is therefore an innovative measure that could invigorate citizen participation in the voting process, and the FEC should encourage providers to resolve the hurdles to implementation.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/08/privacy-text-donations

Weapons For The Weak In The Climate Struggle
If there is any doubt that the abnormal is now the norm, remember that this is shaping up to be the second straight year that nonstop rains have wreaked havoc in Southeast Asia. Last year, the monsoon season brought about the worst flooding in Thailand’s history, with waters engulfing Bangkok and affecting over 14 million people, damaging nearly 7,000 square miles of agricultural land, disrupting global supply chains, and bringing about what the World Bank estimated to be the world’s fourth costliest disaster ever.
http://www.countercurrents.org/bello170812.htm

Poll: 55 Percent of Tea Partiers Believe in Carrying Guns into Church

According to a survey published by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) on Wednesday, 55 percent of Tea Party movement supporters think people should be allowed to bring concealed guns to church.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/poll-55-percent-tea-partiers-believe-carrying-guns-church

Why People Are Irrational about Politics (and Religion)

Epistemic vs. Instrumental Rationality

http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalflawsinreasoning/a/Irrational-Beliefs-Politics-Religion.htm?nl=1

Tom Morello's Epic Retort to Paul Ryan, Apparent "Rage" Fan

Says Ryan has "rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment."

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/tom-morellos-epic-retort-paul-ryan-apparent-rage-fan

Creepy Tea Partiers Think They Own the Military--And Can Use It Against the Rest of Us!

First, it's easily construed as a call for a military coup, which is as un-American as if gets. Second, these people believe they own the military and use it as a weapon against the rest of us. It's a very creepy dynamic.

Get Ready for a Catastrophic War: Israel Likely to Strike Iran Before November Elections

The Israeli government is exploiting the American political timetable to pressure President Obama to support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.

http://www.alternet.org/world/get-ready-catastrophic-war-israel-likely-strike-iran-november-elections

Washington Puts Its Money on Proxy War

The US has been training, advising and conducting joint exercises all over the world with "proxy war on its mind."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32210.htm

New Evidence Shows: US Cover-Up of Murdered Civilians
The new evidence also shows that the statistical tally of casualties from drone attacks in Pakistan published on the web site of the New America Foundation (NAF) has been systematically understating the deaths of large numbers of civilians by using a methodology that methodically counts them as "militants."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32211.htm

Plastics in the Ocean: How Dense Are We?

With very rare exception, all of this material washed in from the waves. Lobster trap vinyl scraps, bait bags, claw bands, bottle caps, coffee-cup tops, cable ties, plant pot fragments, dollhouse parts, inner tube chunks, a saw handle, coat hangers, a crate lid, an air filter, a car arm rest. On and on, anything you can think of.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/08/16/plastics-in-the-ocean-how-dense-are-we/?WT_mc_id=SA_DD_20120817

Mitt Romney Denies Freedom of Religion

Do you believe in freedom of religion? President Obama does, and he is defending Americans’ freedom of religion against Mitt Romney and Fox News.

http://www.alternet.org/mitt-romney-denies-freedom-religion

5 People Who Bravely Fought Christian Takeover of America

At crucial points when the church-state wall was most threatened in America, there were people who rose up to defend it.

http://www.alternet.org/belief/5-people-who-bravely-fought-christian-takeover-america

Cover-Up of Civilian Drone Deaths Revealed by New Evidence

The new evidence also shows that the statistical tally of casualties from drone attacks in Pakistan published on the web site of the New America Foundation (NAF) has been systematically understating the deaths of large numbers of civilians by using a methodology that methodically counts them as "militants."

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10907-cover-up-of-civilian-drone-deaths-revealed-by-new-evidence

With Drone Guidelines, Top Cops Agree: No Killer Robots!

Earlier this week, the International Association of Chiefs of Police published a set of guidelines for the use of the unmanned aircraft — drones — that have been proliferating across the United States and the world beyond. The guidelines aren't binding but they do give us an "industry standard" to which we can point if any given police department or law-enforcement agency colors too far outside the lines. And yes, one of the points on which the organization's Aviation Committee members agree is that drones shouldn't be lethal. Well, not deliberately so, anyway.

http://reason.com/blog/2012/08/17/with-drone-guidelines-top-cops-agree-no

Testifying against evictions

Rory Fanning reports on a town hall meeting that brought together Cook County residents personally affected by foreclosure and eviction.

http://socialistworker.org/2012/08/16/testifying-against-evictions

Baseless Deconstruction: How Your Dollars Became Ghost Towns in Iraq

At the height of the American occupation, in the face of Sunni and Shiite insurgencies and a bloody civil war, the Pentagon built 505 bases there, ranging from micro-outposts to mega-bases the size of small American towns -- in one case, with an airport that was at least as busy as Chicago’s O’Hare International. As it happened, during all but the last days of those long, disastrous years of war, Americans could have had no idea how many bases had been built, using taxpayer dollars, in Iraq. Estimates in the press ranged, on rare occasions, up toabout 300. Only as U.S. troops prepared to leave was that 505 figure released by the military, without any fanfare whatsoever. Startlingly large, it was simply accepted by reporters who evidently found it too unimpressive to highlight.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/17

The New Totalitarianism of Surveillance Technology

If you think that 24/7 tracking of citizens by biometric recognition systems is paranoid fantasy, just read the industry newsletters

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/17-5

Dead Woman Working: American Dream Died Long Ago

My dreams weren’t outrageous and of great wealth. No, my dreams were of a comfortable home, food on the table, children, a meaningful job, and perhaps the “freedom from want” signaled by not being terrified that I wouldn’t make it to my next paycheck. I wanted to pay the bills without fretting. I wanted an occasional vacation from work. And I looked forward to a little time in retirement with enough health left to spend with my husband, kids and grandkids before leaving this earth. Now I am so tired in my late 50s of the struggle and the futility of trying to be heard, that I am angry beyond belief.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/17-0

Does America Get the Campaigns It Deserves?

The fault lies not in our candidates, but in ourselves.

http://prospect.org/article/does-america-get-campaigns-it-deserves

My First Infowars Report...

So, this is the first report I ever did for Infowars. When they say teleprompter-free, they aren't kidding. I come in around 1:28...

INFOGRAPHIC: Everything You Need To Know About Romney’s Dishonesty On Medicare

Steve Dustcircle can be found at:
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Sunday, June 24

Army Prepares Tanks for War on America?

Infowars.com
Friday, June 22, 2012

The U.S. Army is advising residents of St. Louis to “stay away” from military vehicles driving down highways and residential neighborhoods as part of a training program.

The Government Loves to Control People

-Lew Rockwell

Alex Jones, fear, government , Lew Rockwell, liberty, libido dominandi, lust for power, St. Augustine, tyranny

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Saturday, December 3

S 1867: Killing The Bill of Rights and Declaring War on Americans

S 1867: Killing The Bill of Rights and Declaring War on Americans - By Tim Gatto

[REPRINT]
03 December, 2011
Countercurrents.org

This is an article that I MUST write about. If I don't write this article than I have no right to ever write another. The reason is because the most despicable and damaging piece of legislation ever passed was passed in the Senate late last night without hardly a whimper in the morning from the American mainstream press. Under the cover of darkness, the United States Senate virtually declared war on the people of this nation by passing the darkest piece of legislation ever passed in America.

If the House of Representatives passes its version and the President then puts his signature on it and turning it into law, almost every right under the Bill of Rights will be stripped away from the people of the United States. This will be the final nail in the coffin of democracy in America. We will become a military police state and cease to be a democracy or a representative republic or whatever else it has been called. According to the definition under this amendment to the military appropriations bill, the nation will become a part of a world-wide “battle zone”.” If this is signed into law, it will shred the remaining tenants of the Bill of Rights and unleash upon America a total military dictatorship, complete with secret arrests, secret prisons, unlawful interrogations and indefinite detainment without people ever being charged with a crime. It will cause the torture of Americans and even the "legitimate assassination" of U.S. citizens overseas and also right here on American soil!

If you have not yet woken up to the reality of this looming police state we've been morphing into, the police state that so many have warning about, I sincerely hope that most of you realize that we are fast running out of time. Once this becomes law, you will be living in a different kind of America, one that no longer guarantees certain inalienable rights. Americans will have no rights whatsoever in America -- no due process, no First Amendment speech rights, no right to remain silent or to be tried by a jury of your peers. You will only have the right to a military tribunal with a military judge and a military lawyer. In other words, Americans will be afforded the same rights as an enemy combatant in the “battlefield” of America.

Some of you may be wondering why you haven't been told about this by the major news networks? That is a legitimate question. The information about this bill, S.1867, is conflicting. According to “Wired”:

“Here's the best thing that can be said about the new detention powers the Senate has tucked into next year's defense bill: They don't force the military to detain American citizens indefinitely without a trial. They just let the military do that. And even though the leaders of the military and the spy community have said they want no such power, the Senate is poised to pass its bill as early as tonight. There are still changes swirling around the Senate, but this looks like the basic shape of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. Someone the government says is “a member of, or part of, al-Qaida or an associated force” can be held in military custody “without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.” Those hostilities are currently scheduled to end the Wednesday after never. The move would shut down criminal trials for terror suspects”.

The language of the bill is ambiguous. Also from “Wired” “ So despite the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a right to trial, the Senate bill would let the government lock up any citizen it swears is a terrorist, without the burden of proving its case to an independent judge, and for the lifespan of an amorphous war that conceivably will never end. And because the Senate is using the bill that authorizes funding for the military as its vehicle for this dramatic constitutional claim, it's pretty likely to pass.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and CIA Director David Petraeus both say that they are opposed to the bill. Why then is it being written into the Defense Budget that is very likely to pass? Who is behind this most brazen attack on the rights of Americans in history? Senator Carl Levin is the architect of this bill but the two men that are really behind this savaging of American's basic rights are Senators John McCain and Senator Lindsay Graham along with Joe Liebermann according to InfoWar's Alex Jones. Levin defends the bill by claiming that “The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.” Still, while the bill would not force the government to try American citizens by military tribunal, it nevertheless would allow them to do so.

Civil libertarians aren't so sure. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said it “denigrates the very foundations of this country.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) added, “it puts every single American citizen at risk.”

timgatto@hotmail.com
Read Tim's novel "Kimchee Days" and his political Book "Complicity to Contempt" from Oliver Arts and Open Press.

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