Monthly Archives: August 2013

Senator Chambliss: NSA program helped gather current ‘terror chatter’

"'There is an awful lot of chatter out there,' Senator Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press.' He said 'chatter' – electronically monitored communications among terrorism suspects about the planning of a possible attack – was 'very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.' Chambliss said one of the surveillance programs revealed by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden had helped. Those programs 'allow us to have the ability to gather this chatter,' he said. 'If we did not have these programs then we simply wouldn’t be able to listen in on the bad guys.'" Continue reading →

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The Ecuadorian Library: or, The Blast Shack After Three Years

"Snowden sure is a dissident defector, and boy is he ever. Americans don’t even know how to think about characters like Snowden — the American Great and the Good are blundering around on the public stage like blacked-out drunks, blithering self-contradictory rubbish. It’s all 'gosh he’s such a liar' and 'give us back our sinister felon,' all while trying to swat down the jets of South American presidents. These thumb-fingered acts of totalitarian comedy are entirely familiar to anybody who has read Russian literature. The pigs in Orwell’s 'Animal Farm' have more suavity than the US government is demonstrating now. Their credibility is below zero." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Ecuadorian Library: or, The Blast Shack After Three Years

Oklahoma legislator wants to legalize raw milk delivery to homes

"A Tulsa legislator wants to loosen state regulations of raw milk dairies to allow them to deliver directly to consumers. 'Basically, my hope is that we can make milkmen legal again,' said Rep. Ken Walker, R-Tulsa. 'Since these customers already go to the farm, my sole purpose is to let the farmer deliver to the home.' Committee Chairman Dale DeWitt, R-Braman, said he is uncomfortable with some of the health risks that broadening the availability of raw milk would carry. 'The risk is very, very low, but if there was any kind of outbreak of anything from the distribution of raw milk, ... it would just literally kill the industry,' he said." Continue reading →

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UN narcotics body warns Uruguay over marijuana bill

"The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says it is concerned by the approval by Uruguayan MPs of a bill which would legalise marijuana. The INCB says the law would 'be in complete contravention to the provisions of the international drug treaties to which Uruguay is party'. The INCB is an independent body of experts established by the United Nations to monitor countries' compliance with international drug treaties. It says that, if adopted, it 'might have serious consequences for the health and welfare of the population and for the prevention of cannabis abuse among the youth'." Continue reading →

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John Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

"After nearly two years of rocky relations, Secretary of State John Kerry went to Pakistan to begin to repair ties between the US and its ally. Pakistani officials were outraged over the impunity of US drone strikes in the Muslim nation and RT's Erin Ade has more Kerry's comments regarding the matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning

"Ellsberg, then an analyst with the RAND Corporation, leaked a study of U.S.-Vietnam relations from 1945-1967, known colloquially as the Pentagon Papers, handing over the document to newspapers. The release of the Pentagon Papers proved politically embarrassing for President Richard Nixon and the Watergate break-in, which eventually led to Nixon's resignation, was part of a broader White House effort to identify the source of such leaks. Ellsberg was eventually charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy, but the charges were later dismissed, unlike the case of Army Private Bradley Manning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning

Why Do Bureaucrats Hate Bambi?

"I never thought I would have a special category about bureaucrats vs. Bambi. 1. Bureaucrats in Virginia filed three misdemeanor charges against a man for the horrible crime of rescuing a deer that was hit by a car. 2. Bureaucrats in Maryland fined two men $90 each for not having life jackets when they had the gall to rescue a deer that fell through some ice. 3. Bureaucrats in Indiana are threatening prison time for a family that rescued a baby deer from coyotes. The paper pushers of the world seem to harbor a special grudge against these harmless ruminants, since we now have another story about a baby deer. But this time, Bambi was the victim." Continue reading →

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Indianapolis “Officer of the Year” attacks man in under 16 seconds of conversation

"Brian Hudkins was disputing with hotel staff over the fact that unauthorized people had entered his hotel room. He was upset but not in any way aggressive. He even clasped his hands behind his back. That's when 'Officer of the Year' T. Michael Wilson and Brian Hudkins began interacting. Video shows that in only 16 seconds of talking to Hudkins, he inexplicably grabs him by the shoulders and tackles him violently to the ground. Hudkins had his hands behind his back during the entire body-slam maneuver. Hudkins suffered cuts and bruises, an injured shoulder, was denied medication, and has had his business and reputation suffer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndianapolis “Officer of the Year” attacks man in under 16 seconds of conversation

Healthy girl confiscated from parents who smoked pot, given to murderous foster mother

"A little girl was confiscated from her loving parents because they smoked marijuana, and given away to a foster mother who put her into a coma and killed her. Alexandria Hill, age 2, succumbed to her injuries after being 'thrown to the ground.' 'We never hurt our daughter. She was never sick, she was never in the hospital, and she never had any issues until she went into state care,' said Joshua Hill, the girl's natural father. Hill says that his daughter was put in to more than one dangerous foster home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHealthy girl confiscated from parents who smoked pot, given to murderous foster mother