Homeland Stupidity

Monday Morning Skeptic: Questioning Authority in the Sprawling Boston Bombing Case

"Mistakes were made. Lots of them—and on more than a few significant aspects of the story. But do such details really matter? If you believe in the infallibility of the FBI, probably not. But the Boston Marathon bombing investigation has bloomed into a complex filigree of related inquiries—from the unsolved triple murder in 2011 in drowsy Waltham, Mass., to the rare 'shelter-in-place' order and live-TV posse search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on April 19, to the puzzling FBI-agent shooting death in Florida of an unarmed friend of the Tsarnaevs who might have been able to answer crucial questions–had he lived." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonday Morning Skeptic: Questioning Authority in the Sprawling Boston Bombing Case

Drama: Yemen, Guantanamo Bay, Stamford, CT

"I commute to work in Stamford, CT. I take the Metro North almost daily. Today, in light of the 'terrorist' threat I was greeted with the Stamford Police and other law enforcement at the top of the escalator leading from the track. They were checking for traces of explosive material. Some people were being singled out to go through a swab test[...]. My co-worker who arrives later than I do told me he was singled out for a quick swab and when he complained he was told he 'better get used to it' and 'this is for our protection.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDrama: Yemen, Guantanamo Bay, Stamford, CT

Is America Going to Hell in a Handbasket?

"While there is very little chance that an Islamic terrorist will ever have any effect on your life, there is a much greater chance that your life will be abused, molested, robbed, assaulted, terrorized or murdered by an American government official. And you 'progressives' out there are just as responsible for turning America into the current police state as are the conservatives and neocons, by the way. But the truth is still difficult for many people to handle. So, as America has reached Hell in a handbasket, people still would rather believe the myth that government is a 'necessary evil,' or that when it gets very, very bad, it can be 'reformed.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs America Going to Hell in a Handbasket?

City Of Concord Confuses Concerned Residents With Domestic Terrorists

"A city that has had two homicides in the past decade needs an armored vehicle to protect itself against weapons of mass destruction, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive attacks, according to City Manager Thomas Aspell. In an application for Homeland Security federal funding of a $258,024 BEARCAT tank, Aspell named three groups as presenting 'active and daily challenges': Occupy New Hampshire, Free Staters, and Sovereign Citizens. This information was only uncovered after a public records request from the ACLU, focusing on the trend of the militarization of police forces in peaceful, small-town communities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCity Of Concord Confuses Concerned Residents With Domestic Terrorists

Washington man arrested for strapping bomb to his dog and blowing it up

"A Washington state man was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly killed his dog by attaching a bomb to the animal and then detonated it. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the metro area’s bomb squad assisted in the investigation. Dillingham was charged with second-degree malicious mischief, reckless endangerment and possession of an explosive device. Officials declined to give a motive for the crime, citing an ongoing investigation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWashington man arrested for strapping bomb to his dog and blowing it up

Justin Amash vs Former NSA Head General Michael Hayden 8/4/13

"Amash cautions that you need to have actual facts to support allegations, and in the meanwhile, he'd favor focusing on what previously unknown information is now known to Americans. 'Members of Congress were on the whole not aware of what these programs were being used for,' he says, and in that respect, he considers him a 'whistleblower' for the time being. 'He may be doing things overseas that we'll find to be problematic or dangerous, we'll find those facts out over time,' he says, 'but as far as Congress is concerned, sure, he's a whistleblower. He told us what we needed to know.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustin Amash vs Former NSA Head General Michael Hayden 8/4/13

Everyone Is Now A Terrorist According to The US Government

"It’s official, every single American can now be classified as a terrorist by the US government. The label of ‘terrorist’ no longer applies to members of al-Qaeda of ‘extremists’, but the average citizen of this nation. And I can show you how literally 100% of the population can be classified as a terrorist under the truly outrageous Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI characteristics that define a terrorist or terrorist activity. These broad qualifications of ‘terrorism’ that have spawned a new wave of absolute paranoia within the population regarding their fellow citizens, who the nightly news says may be sleeper cell terrorists." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEveryone Is Now A Terrorist According to The US Government

Glenn Greenwald: Embassy closings looks like a conspiracy to silence NSA debate

"Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Monday suggested that President Barack Obama had ordered 19 U.S. embassies in the Middle Easy closed not because of a legitimate terror threat, but to silence a debate on recently-revealed details of National Security Agency (NSA) data collection programs. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said that the embassies had been temporarily closed after the NSA learned of a terrorist plot. Speaking to Democracy Now‘s Amy Goodman on Monday, Greenwald observed that the Obama administration may have shuttered the posts just to stop discussion about his reporting." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Embassy closings looks like a conspiracy to silence NSA debate

How the U.S. DEA program differs from recent NSA revelations

"Reuters has uncovered previously unreported details about a separate program, run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, that extends well beyond intelligence gathering. Its use, legal experts say, raises fundamental questions about whether the government is concealing information used to investigate and help build criminal cases against American citizens. The DEA program is run by a secretive unit called the Special Operations Division, or SOD. Here is how NSA efforts exposed by Snowden differ from the activities of the SOD." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow the U.S. DEA program differs from recent NSA revelations

The NSA is giving your phone records to the DEA. And the DEA is covering it up.

"DEA officials in a highly secret office called the Special Operations Division are assigned to handle these incoming tips. Tips from the NSA are added to a DEA database that includes 'intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records.' Because the SOD’s work is classified, DEA cases that began as NSA leads can’t be seen to have originated from a NSA source. So what does the DEA do? It makes up the story of how the agency really came to the case in a process known as 'parallel construction.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe NSA is giving your phone records to the DEA. And the DEA is covering it up.