Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

This author has written 11091 articles

Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash

"On Wednesday, the house voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 'no' voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 'yes' voters. The investigation shows that defense cash was a better predictor of a member’s vote on the Amash amendment than party affiliation. House members who voted to continue the massive phone-call-metadata spy program, on average, raked in 122 percent more money from defense contractors than those who voted Wednesday to dismantle it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash

Civil Liberties and Security in an Age of Terrorism

"Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism: A special evening with our 'Challenge of Liberty Summer Seminars' students and featured by C-SPAN's Book TV. Watch this eye-opening, timely discussion on the recent revelations of systematic government spying—including NSA accessing of phone records, USPS photocopying the exterior of all mail, and the dangers posed to liberty and security by these and other such unchecked and unconstitutional powers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCivil Liberties and Security in an Age of Terrorism

Iran and Iraq, BFF (Best Friends Forever)?

"Why did Iraq invade Iran in 1980? A major reason was the fact that Iraq's majority is Shiite. Let's not forget that the majority of Iran's citizens associate themselves with the Shi'a branch of Islam. Remember Saddam Hussein? Well he was a Sunni, and the Sunnis were in control in Iraq. Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military were backed by the US, Britain, and other Western countries. Saddam invaded Iran to establish Iraq as the dominant Gulf state, and to also suppress the Shi'a majority from revolting in Iraq. Now the government of Iraq is ruled by Shiites. The government of Iran is also Shi'a dominated, with the majority of the population being Shiite." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran and Iraq, BFF (Best Friends Forever)?

Afghanistan Audits Reveal Billions in U.S. Taxpayer Waste

"As the U.S. prepares to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the government watchdog charged with overseeing nearly $100 billion in contracts to reconstruct the country has found almost $2 billion in potential waste, fraud and abuse in the last three months alone — some of which has likely led to the deaths of American servicemen and women, according to the agency’s reports. The string of alleged violations includes phantom projects, improperly awarded contracts, aborted projects, deserted construction, a general lack of transparency to comprehensively oversee projects and, in one instance, building a $34 million military facility that will never be used." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfghanistan Audits Reveal Billions in U.S. Taxpayer Waste

James Corbett with Sibel Edmonds: Gladio Revisited

"As one of the most thoroughly-documented examples of a decades-long program of officially-sanctioned false flag terror, Operation Gladio remains a woefully under-reported piece of the War on Terror puzzle. Today we go behind the trite summarizations of this program to look at it in-depth, examine its roots, and discover how it is continuing to operate right through to the present day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJames Corbett with Sibel Edmonds: Gladio Revisited

How The Establishment Will Attempt To Bring Down The Liberty Movement

"It is the most dedicated and the most uplifting of activists that the system tends to target in order to demean the core strength of the overall movement and tarnish its reputation. A recent and malicious example is the subversive electronic planting of false evidence in an attempt to connect organizations like Oath Keepers, We Are Change, and PANDA to illicit and illegal pornographic materials. This is only one method of attack in the arsenal of slander and destabilization, and while the culprits behind the action are not yet known, the strategy is very similar to government run demonization campaigns of the past (just read up on the history of Cointelpro)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow The Establishment Will Attempt To Bring Down The Liberty Movement

JPMorgan Chase stops trading ‘non-financial’ commodities amid federal pressure

"JPMorgan Chase & Co is exiting physical commodities trading, the bank said in a surprise statement on Friday, as Wall Street’s role in the trading of raw materials comes under unprecedented political and regulatory pressure. After spending billions of dollars and five years building the banking world’s biggest commodity desk, JPMorgan said it would pursue 'strategic alternatives' for its trading assets that stretch from Baltimore to Johor, and a global team dealing in everything from African crude oil to Chilean copper. The bank said it will continue to trade in financial commodities such as derivatives and precious metals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJPMorgan Chase stops trading ‘non-financial’ commodities amid federal pressure

Ageing population pushes welfare bill to crisis point

"In a report released tonight, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the proportion of GDP spent on jobseekers’ allowance, pensions and other 'public social spending' stood at 23.8 per cent — the same as it was in 2010. The Paris-based think tank warned that unless action was taken to cut the cost to the state of Britain’s rapidly rising elderly population, the health and pensions systems could collapse. Ddespite broadly positive signs, economic activity is still well below the level enjoyed before the financial crisis and Britain faces years of austerity and uncertainty." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAgeing population pushes welfare bill to crisis point

Seven killed, hundreds injured in new round of dueling protests in Egypt

"At least seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in scattered violence across Egypt during mass rallies for and against the army’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, who was placed under investigation for murder. With hundreds of thousands taking to the streets on Friday, the new bloodshed deepened the turmoil convulsing the Arab world’s most populous country, and could trigger a decisive move by the military against Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The country of 84 million people forms a bridge between the Middle East and North Africa and receives $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSeven killed, hundreds injured in new round of dueling protests in Egypt

Eric Margolis: Japan Must Face Up To China

"The 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty laid the foundation of relations between Washington and Tokyo. [...] The key to the treaty was the establishment of permanent US air, land, and sea bases in Japan. They remain, half a century later. Japan thus became a giant US aircraft carrier from which it dominates highly strategic North Asia. In exchange, Japanese industry was given open access to the US market, thus laying the base of Japan’s economic upsurge of the 1960’s. South Korea enjoyed a similar deal. This cozy arrangement is now being challenged by the rapid rise of China’s military and economic power." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Japan Must Face Up To China