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Government Attempts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Wrongful Arrest, Psych Ward Detention of Facebook Marine

“‘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 →

Britain is exporting arms to human rights violators: report

“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 →

Afghani accused of murdering and torturing civilian blames U.S. commanders

“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 →

Ex-Military General Dynamics Contractor: ‘I Hereby Resign in Protest Effective Immediately’

“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 →

Zimmerman can get his gun back, has ‘even more reason’ to carry now

“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 →

Edward Snowden’s travels overshadow his leaks in U.S. media

“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 →

Why Can’t We Party Like It’s 1905?

“So, do you think life was nasty, brutish, and short in 1905? The Wright brothers were flying for 30 minutes at a crack; Einstein was upgrading the laws of physics; telephones and electric lights were being installed all across America; Henry Ford was getting the final pieces in place for his moving assembly line and Model T; radio was being developed; art was flourishing; and the world was more or less at peace. People in 1905 lived in heated homes, refrigerated their food, had access to professional physicians, traveled the world, read daily newspapers, watched movies, and ate just about the same foods we eat.” Continue reading →

Utah lawmaker calls for an end to compulsory education

“Osmond argues that requiring children to attend school has caused some parents to ‘completely disengage themselves from their obligation to oversee and ensure the successful education of their children.’ ‘I believe the time has come for us to re-evaluate what we expect of parents and the public education system.’ Osmond recommends ‘restoring the parental right to decide if and when a child will go to public school’ to uphold the ‘principles of personal freedom and unalienable rights.’ Part of the solution, he believes, is to ‘stop dictating the number of hours a child must be present in a classroom.'” Continue reading →