military industrial complex

Marines, sailors to ‘invade’ Jasper County for training mission

"About 150 Marines and sailors will hold 'realistic urban training' in Jasper County later this week as part of pre-deployment training. Times and exact locations for the training are not being announced. Residents will likely see and hear military vehicles and possibly see aircraft. The Marines and sailors likely will be stationed on ships, and the training is part of a certification for deployment to Mediterranean and African shores. Participants will be in uniform and carry weapons. Some exercises will take place at night. Residents might hear 'popping' sounds as Marines fire blanks. The training has been coordinated with local, county and state agencies and officials." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarines, sailors to ‘invade’ Jasper County for training mission

Obama’s Drones – Coming to a Window Near You

"The Constitution of the Unites States guarantees that we shall not be 'deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,' that we have a right to trial and to be charged with a crime. But if the president of the United States, as a Columbia Law School professor described President Obama’s actions a few days ago, 'is acting as judge, jury and executioner,' how are we to defend ourselves? We can at least start by demanding that Capitol Hill outlaw the use of surveillance drones against the 315,279,355 presumed innocent Americans now living in the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Drones – Coming to a Window Near You

Ron Paul: Beware The Consequences of Pre-Emptive War

"Last year more US troops died by suicide than died in combat in Afghanistan. More than 20 percent of military personnel deployed to combat will develop PTSD. More than 20 percent of active-duty military are on potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs; many are on multiple types. Violent crime among active duty military members increased 31 percent between 2006-2011. The warning that 'he who lives by the sword dies by the sword' goes not only for individuals but for entire societies. It is a warning to all of us. A country or a society that lives with the violence of pre-emptive war in fact self-destructs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Beware The Consequences of Pre-Emptive War

LAPD: Collateral Damage For The Sake Of The State

"Soldiers and other killers for hire in Iraq and Afghanistan are carefully trained to stop thinking of their targets as human beings. Otherwise they'll flinch and hesitate when they need to kill. 'If you ask yourself, ‘did he kiss his kids goodbye this morning,’ you’re through,' I remember one sniper saying. And I remember this one, too: 'Sorry, The chick got in the way.' Many LAPD and other police force members are veterans of those wars. Do you think they can forget that training? Turn it off like a switch? The LAPD-Dorner case has proven that they can't." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLAPD: Collateral Damage For The Sake Of The State

Welcome to the Malware-Industrial Complex

"Freshly discovered weakness in a popular piece of software, known in the trade as a 'zero-day' vulnerability because the software makers have had no time to develop a fix, can command prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from defense contractors, security agencies and governments. This trade in zero-day exploits is poorly documented, but it is perhaps the most visible part of a new industry that in the years to come is likely to swallow growing portions of the U.S. national defense budget, reshape international relations, and perhaps make the Web less safe for everyone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWelcome to the Malware-Industrial Complex

Cyber security battle looms after Obama issues executive order

"President Barack Obama’s order aimed at ramping up protection from cyberattacks will address only a small portion of threats and sets up a fresh battle in Congress over legislation. Obama acted this week after two failed attempts in Congress to pass measures to protect critical infrastructure from computer attacks. Because most of the networks in question are in private hands, officials say they must rely on voluntary reporting by industry of any cyber threats or attacks. Legislation would be needed to shield businesses from liability when they do report potential malware threats." Continue reading →

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At least 20 prisoners still missing from CIA ‘black sites’

"In one of President Barack Obama first acts in the White House, he ordered the closure of the CIA’s so-called 'black-site' prisons, where terror suspects had been held and, sometimes, tortured. But the CIA’s prisons left some unfinished business. In 2009, ProPublica’s Dafna Linzer listed more than thirty people who had been held in CIA prisons and were still missing. Some of those prisoners have since resurfaced, but at least twenty are still unaccounted for. A few emerged from foreign prisons after the turmoil of the Arab Spring. One has died." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAt least 20 prisoners still missing from CIA ‘black sites’

Veterans Administration again accused of covering up the causes of ‘Gulf War Syndrome’

"An alarming but widely-ignored report by a federal panel of high-level scientists charged with advising the government on the disease accused the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of covering up the true nature and cause of a profound systemic illness that medical scientists have traced to wartime exposures — including neurotoxins, depleted uranium, and microbes, among others. The culprits, the committee claims, are bureaucrats in the Veterans’ Administration Office of Public Health, whose coordination of a robust strategic plan for Gulf War Illness (on which RAC had consulted) has 'gutted' science, 'focus,' 'energy,' and budgetary resources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeterans Administration again accused of covering up the causes of ‘Gulf War Syndrome’

US Killed Hundreds of Children in Afghanistan, Says New Report — US Rejects Report

"The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that it was 'alarmed' by reports that hundreds of children died as a result of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan because of a 'reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force,' the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend. The UN report also condemned the arrest and detention of children in Afghanistan. But the U.S. military said 'the reports were unsubstantiated and cited figures from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan showing that the vast majority of civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan over the last several years were caused by insurgents.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Killed Hundreds of Children in Afghanistan, Says New Report — US Rejects Report