Land Of The Flea

Bradley Manning Trial: ‘Aiding the Enemy’ Charge is a Travesty of Justice

"The government’s charge that Manning 'aided and abetted the enemy,' which carries a possible life-sentence in prison, is based on the argument that the information Manning leaked was of interest to Osama bin Laden and other terrorist organizations. But as Glenn Greenwald points out in a recent Guardian column, the prosecution’s theory poses a serious threat to the freedom of the press and turns virtually all leaks and whisteblowing into a form of treason. Since bin Laden claimed to have read and recommended Bob Woodward’s journalism, should Woodward also be locked in solitary confinement and stripped of his clothing?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBradley Manning Trial: ‘Aiding the Enemy’ Charge is a Travesty of Justice

U.S. lawmakers blast Guantanamo’s $2.7 million per prisoner cost

"The current cost of operating the facility has jumped to $454 million in the fiscal year ended September 30, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, or about $2.7 million for each of the 166 inmates. Overall, $4.7 billion has been spent running Guantanamo since the facility opened in 2002. By comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates, analysts say. Advocates for closure also argue that holding prisoners for years without charge or trial is a stain on the United States. They say Guantanamo is a threat to national security because it is a powerful recruiting tool for militants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. lawmakers blast Guantanamo’s $2.7 million per prisoner cost

What’s Up with Inflation?

"Many argue that these weightings skew the CPI lower, as do hedonic adjustments. The motivation for this skew is transparent: since the government increases Social Security benefits and Federal employees' pay annually to keep up with inflation (the cost of living allowance or COLA), a low rate of inflation keeps these increases modest. Those claiming the weighting is accurate face a blizzard of legitimate questions. For example, if healthcare is 18% of the U.S. GDP, i.e. 18 cents of every dollar goes to healthcare, then how can a mere 7% wedge of the CPI devoted to healthcare be remotely accurate?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat’s Up with Inflation?

Are You Earning More or Less Than the US Median Income?

"Median weekly earnings of the nation's 104.2 million full-time wage and salary workers were $776 in the second quarter of 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Among men, those age 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, $1,007 and $1,023, respectively. Usual weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 to 64; weekly earnings were $760 for women age 35 to 44, $767 for women age 45 to 54, and $789 for women age 55 to 64. Workers age 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $452." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAre You Earning More or Less Than the US Median Income?

PayPal Cuts Off VPN Provider iPredator, Freezes Assets

"PayPal has cut off VPN provider iPredator, an anonymity service launched by Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde. The popular VPN provider is no longer allowed to accept payments and PayPal has frozen all funds for up to 180 days. PayPal didn’t provide any details as to why iPredator was banned, but the action comes after their credit card processor stopped doing business with all VPN services." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPayPal Cuts Off VPN Provider iPredator, Freezes Assets

Nintendo kicks “Let’s Play” videos off YouTube then slaps ads on them

"Now, it looks like Let's Play videos are one more piece of content that's being caught up in YouTube's Content ID system. It's an automated copyright-enforcement system that's been glitchy from the start and often criticized for taking down legitimate content. Remixes of cultural icons have been taken down with no good explanation, as well as NASA content that should be in the public domain. Political satire didn't stand a chance either. Until October, there wasn't even a meaningful appeal system for owners of wrongly removed videos." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNintendo kicks “Let’s Play” videos off YouTube then slaps ads on them

Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave

"In China, the 'bare branches' — young men who couldn’t find wives — started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851-68, cost over 100,000 lives and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today’s young people accept their lot… and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces… rampage down Wall Street… and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave

The Nightmare Ahead: 19 US Cities Have More Public Workers per Resident than Detroit

"Detroit declared bankruptcy due in no small part to $3 billion in unfunded public employee pensions as a result of a massive city workforce that kept growing even as the city’s population shriveled, but a Washington Examiner analysis found that 19 major American cities have even bigger ratios of such workers to residents. Here's the report from WE showing the number of residents per municipal employee." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Nightmare Ahead: 19 US Cities Have More Public Workers per Resident than Detroit

Republican battles for Medicaid funding turn to God and morality

"Most Republicans oppose Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a costly, ineffective and unnecessary expansion of government. But some Republican governors, like Arizona's Jan Brewer and Michigan's Rick Snyder, have broken ranks to embrace the law's Medicaid expansion as a practical way to help the poor while infusing their state budgets with billions of dollars in federal funding to pay for it. Ohio's John Kasich has gone further. His message of morality goes straight to the Republican Party's allegiance to traditional American values including charity, and should resonate with religious conservatives within its influential Tea Party faction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRepublican battles for Medicaid funding turn to God and morality

Democrat seeks to defund Obama’s expansive war powers

"Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) amendment would prohibit the use of funds pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) effective on December 31, 2014. The Bush and Obama administrations have used the AUMF as a legal justification for vast electronic surveillance and targeted drone strikes against suspected terrorists. The AUMF has also been used to deploy troops to various countries — including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Georgia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen — and justify indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDemocrat seeks to defund Obama’s expansive war powers