"When Edward Snowden exposed the existence of some of the National Security Agency's intelligence gathering operations, did he help or harm America? Jeffrey Brown gets debate from Daniel Ellsberg, co-author of the famous internal Defense Department study 'The Pentagon Papers,' and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey." Continue reading →
"'It’s bad enough that the government is targeting military veterans for expressing their discontent over America’s rapid transition to a police state, but for any government official to suggest that they shouldn’t be held accountable for violating a citizen’s rights on the grounds that they were unaware of the Constitution’s prohibitions makes a mockery of our so-called system of representative government,' said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State." Continue reading →
"Liberal demonstrations have claimed that the Obama administration had supported the Brotherhood and its former President Mohamed Morsi. Yet the Brotherhood has claimed that despite the U.S. government’s neutral rhetoric during the latest crisis—calling on all sides to rein in violence from their supporters—American diplomats secretly pressured the Brotherhood to resign itself to Morsi’s ouster by the Egyptian military, re-enter the political process, and thus legitimate the coup. Both sides are correct. How can this be?" Continue reading →
"Britain has issued export licences worth £12 billion ($18 billion, 14 billion euros) for the sale of military equipment to states deemed possible rights violators including Syria, Iran and China, lawmakers said Wednesday. The countries for which licences have been issued include Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Belarus and Zimbawe, the Committees on Arms Export Controls of parliament’s lower House of Commons said. The countries with the largest numbers of licences include China with 1,163 licences worth £1.4 billion, Saudi Arabia with 417 licences worth £1.8 billion, and Israel and the Palestinian Territories with 381 licences worth £7.8 billion." Continue reading →
"He blamed the murders on three Americans, whom he named as Dave, Hagen and Chris, and whom he said were fluent in Afghanistan’s two main languages Dari and Pashto. 'I was simply a low-rank translator and did not have authorisation to roam around inside the base, or (go) to interrogation sections,' the report quoted Kandahari as saying. He did admit to 'slapping' and 'kicking' the detainee allegedly shown in the video reportedly obtained by Afghan intelligence agents, according to the report. US investigations have found 'no credible evidence' to substantiate any allegations of abuse by either NATO or US forces, a military spokesman told AFP on Tuesday." Continue reading →
"I have served the post-911 Military Industrial complex for 10 years, first as a soldier in Baghdad, and now as a defense contractor. At the time of my enlistment, I believed in the cause. I was ignorant, naïve, and misled. We have become what I thought we were fighting against. Recent revelations by fearless journalists of war crimes including counterinsurgency 'dirty' wars, drone terrorism, the suspension of due process, torture, mass surveillance, and widespread regulatory capture have shed light on the true nature of the current US Government. I have always believed that if every foot soldier threw down his rifle war would end. I hereby throw mine down." Continue reading →
"With the trial at an end and the jury finding him not guilty, George Zimmerman now has the right by law to have his gun back. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, was asked whether Zimmerman intended to carry a gun again. 'Yes. Even more reason now, isn’t there?' O’Mara replies. 'There are a lot of people out there who actually hate him.' And although by Florida law Zimmerman has the right to have his gun returned to him, that doesn’t necessarily mean his concealed carry permit will be handed over quite as easily. At the suggestion of his lawyers, Zimmerman, who wore a bullet proof vest in public during the trial, will likely leave the state of Florida." Continue reading →
"After a flurry of bipartisan denouncements of the leaks, and some calls by lawmakers to revisit the authority Congress bestows on the NSA and other intelligence agencies, the House and Senate returned to executive nominations, debates on student loan interest rates and a farm bill. Proponents of reform of the surveillance programs worry that the saga of Snowden, who has eluded US capture for weeks while holing up in a Moscow airport transit terminal and who on Tuesday requested asylum from Russia, is muscling debate about surveillance policy out of the US headlines." Continue reading →
"I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles - the actions I've taken would not have been necessary. The media has distorted my actions and intentions to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations and instead focus on personalities. It seems they believe every modern narrative requires a bad guy. Perhaps, in such times, loving one's country means being hated by its government. If history proves that be so, I will not shy from that hatred. I will not hesitate to wear those charges of villainy for the rest of my life as a civic duty, allowing those governing few who dared not do so themselves to use me as an excuse to right these wrongs." Continue reading →
"The day after the crash, I found myself in the homicide squad room in South Los Angeles. The Hastings topic came up, and one of the detectives said, 'Stanley got him. Took his time, but got him. That wasn’t an accident.' (Meaning General Stanley McChrystal.) On cue, a sign showed up the next day on the now-singed Hasting’s Palm: 'This was not an accident.' By nightfall, someone had replaced it with another message: 'Go to sleep people. This was an accident.' Hastings’s death was national news briefly, but it was soon pushed aside by subjects deemed more pressing to the mainstream media." Continue reading →