The Freedom Watch

Read more about the article Washington ‘Pot Czar’ Mark Kleiman Packs Up

Washington ‘Pot Czar’ Mark Kleiman Packs Up

"When it hired Kleiman last March, the LCB said it had budgeted an initial $100,000 for the much sought-after consulting work. The state ended up paying much more--$814,000, as of last week, with one payment still pending, Smith tells SW. It might seem a little strange that the pot czar has left while the state is still immersed in crafting regulations, the latest version of which are to be made public tomorrow. But Smith emphasizes that Kleiman’s fulsome title was a media construct. The academic’s reports concentrated on market analysis and technical subjects, like the projected impact of legalization Initiative 502’s taxing scheme on the price of pot." Continue reading →

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Bionic Commandos from the Warrior Web

"In 2011, DARPA started the Warrior Web program in order to develop a soft, lightweight undersuit that would augment physical capabilities. This suit would relieve mental strains that obstruct a soldier’s ability to execute missions. Ninety percent of the U.S. Army could be wearing these high-tech suits one-three years from now. DARPA is not alone in their ambition to produce a human augmentation suit. NASA is working on their own suit with several partners, which could give us a good idea of what human augmentation suits will be like further out in the future. Their suit could give astronauts superhuman strength on major space missions to an asteroid or Mars." Continue reading →

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Russia Issues International Travel Advisory to Its Hackers

"The Russian government has some advice for its cyber criminal class, and any other citizens who might be wanted by U.S. law enforcement: Don’t leave home. Yesterday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a public notice advising 'citizens to refrain from traveling abroad, especially to countries that have signed agreements with the U.S. on mutual extradition, if there is reasonable suspicion that U.S. law enforcement agencies' have a case pending against them. 'Practice shows that the trials of those who were actually kidnapped and taken to the United States are biased, based on shaky evidence' and are slanted against the Russians, the notice warns." Continue reading →

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Senate committee strikes deal on resolution authorizing force against Syria

"Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reached an agreement late Tuesday on wording of a new resolution authorizing U.S. military force against the Syrian government. The resolution would permit up to 90 days of military action against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, beginning with 60 days and the option of 30 more pending President Obama’s notification of Congress, according to a copy of the resolution provided by Senate aides. The resolution also bars the deployment of U.S. combat troops into Syria, but would permit the deployment of a small rescue mission, in the event of an emergency, the aides said." Continue reading →

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CIA Analyst Michael Scheuer Exposes Syrian War Lobbyists

"Members of al Qaeda are known to be among the rebels being supported by the Obama administration. Like a Mexican standoff, the tragic conflict could go in any direction. Michael Scheuer is a historian and former CIA analyst. For three years, he headed the Osama bin Laden tracking Unit at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. He is author of the book Imperial Hubris. In 2007, bin Laden said Scheuer's book revealed the reasons behind U.S. losses in the War on Terrorism." Continue reading →

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Andrew J. Bacevich: A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz

"Your imagination led you to foresee a brief conflict, with Iraqis rather than U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for any mess left behind. After all, preventive war was supposed to solve problems. Eliminating threats before they could materialize was going to enhance our standing, positioning us to call the shots. Instead, the result was a train wreck of epic proportions. Granted, as you yourself have said, 'the world is better off' with Saddam Hussein having met his maker. But taken as a whole, the cost-benefit ratio is cause for weeping. As for global hegemony, we can kiss it goodbye. What conclusions should we draw from the events that actually occurred, rather than from those you hoped for?" Continue reading →

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Nick Turse Describes the Real Vietnam War

"Journalist Nick Turse describes his personal mission to compile a complete and compelling account of the Vietnam War’s horror as experienced by all sides, including innocent civilians who were sucked into its violent vortex. Turse, who devoted 12 years to tracking down the true story of Vietnam, unlocked secret troves of documents, interviewed officials and veterans — including many accused of war atrocities — and traveled throughout the Vietnamese countryside talking with eyewitnesses to create his book, Kill Anything That Moves. 'American culture has never fully come to grips with Vietnam,' Turse tells Bill, referring to 'hidden and forbidden histories that just haven’t been fully engaged.'" Continue reading →

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Great is the Guilt of an Unnecessary War – Vietnam Edition

"The Vietnam War ended forty years ago, but its toxic legacy lives on in children born decades after the conflict came to a close. One of them is 12-year-old Thi Ly, whose head is unnaturally large and visibly misshapen and her eyes are separated by an unusual distance and out of alignment. From the time she was an infant, Ly has been repeatedly hospitalized for numerous ailments. Her 43-year-old mother, Le Thi Thu, has similar deformities. Both of them are second- and third-generation victims of exposure to dioxin as a result of the U.S. military’s use of a defoliant called Agent Orange that was used extensively over parts of southern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia." Continue reading →

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Global War on Terror (GWOT) Was a Hopeless Blunder from the Get-Go

"The American public needs to turn against the GWOT. The press and intellectuals need to do far more homework. They need to dig out and read criticisms like these. They need to be more critical of government failures to alter its policies. Many brains were put in cold storage because of the emotional impact of 9/11. They need to be resuscitated. The time for emotion is over. The GWOT was a hasty, ill-conceived response to 9/11. The press and public need a strong dose of honesty about past blunders. The press and public need to stop paying attention to the fanatic warmongers, hatemongers and partisans of Israel and militarism." Continue reading →

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U.S. Losing the GWOT

"Major Bryan Groves, U.S. Army, says the same thing: 'Al Qaeda (AQ), its affiliate organizations, the Taliban, and most recently, AQ-inspired violent extremists, have demonstrated a tenacious resiliency. Their resiliency has primarily manifested itself through a unique ability to evolve and grow over time, enabling them to continue attacking U.S. interests abroad and at home. This resiliency is also evident through continued extremist recruitment, radicalization, mobilization, and funding. The frustrating aspect of this for U.S. counterterrorism officials is the enemy’s success in these areas despite tremendous American and Coalition efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat these organizations.'” Continue reading →

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