military industrial complex

Anti-Secession Threat From Spookville

"Most of you have probably heard of the different State petitions on the White House website to secede from the United States. I wanted to remind you that Allegiance to the United States is one of the 13 adjudicative guidelines that DISCO uses to grant you access to classified/sensitive information. A personnel security investigation (security clearance investigation) is an inquiry into an individual’s loyalty, character, trustworthiness, and reliability to ensure that he or she is eligible to access classified information or occupy a position of trust." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnti-Secession Threat From Spookville

Obama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’

"The FOIA was filed in response to an article that appeared in The Washington Post this week, claiming that Obama issued a secret directive shortly before the elections that empowers the military to 'vet any operations outside government and defense networks' for cyber security purposes. However, because the exact text of the directive remains a secret, nobody can really say exactly what it does. That was somewhat disconcerting to American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Michelle Richardson, who told Raw Story on Wednesday that without the text, 'it’s hard to see what they mean.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’

Congress to cut benefits for Veterans?

"Over the centuries men and women have served in the US military and on November 11, America honors their sacrifice and bravery. But among the federal holiday, Congress plans on cutting defense spending, but will those cuts harm veterans who have served this country? Michael Prysner, veteran and founder of March Forward, joins us with more on Congress' plan to cut funding." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress to cut benefits for Veterans?

Veterans struggle with benefit claims thanks to missing war records

"Over the last decade, millions of military field records from Iraq and Afghanistan have been lost or destroyed, making it difficult for some soldiers to prove their combat experiences and obtain medical benefits or other veteran awards and services. Our reporting found a few reasons behind the problem. The loss of field records - after-action write-ups, intelligence reports and other day-to-day accounts from the war zones - has far-reaching implications. It has complicated efforts by soldiers like DeLara to claim benefits. And it makes it harder for military strategists to learn the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeterans struggle with benefit claims thanks to missing war records

Marine in tutu allegedly mistakes vet’s wheelchair as costume, assaults him

"A Marine was arrested after he allegedly attacked a paralyzed Army veteran he thought was wearing the uniform and using the wheelchair as a Halloween costume, Ocala.com reported. Dan Priotti, 35, a wheelchair-bound Army veteran, was hit twice in the head at a Gainesville, Fla., restaurant on Halloween while he was ordering food, News4jax.com reported. He said he was approached by another man who began yelling, indicating that he was faking the injury. The suspect was identified by police as Christopher Dabney, a Marine veteran police said took offense at Priotti’s outfit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarine in tutu allegedly mistakes vet’s wheelchair as costume, assaults him

Obama’s Hammer and the Progress of The Daily Bell

"If both the political and economic legs of the US republic's three-legged 'stool' are eroding, that leaves one sturdy leg, the US military. There's no doubt in my mind that as political consensus continues to erode and the US economy continues to grow worse in many ways that the powers-that-be will lean more and more on US civil and military policing to provide 'social glue.' The US, under Obama's next four years, may become increasingly militarized and even more aggressive, if that's possible, from an interventionist standpoint. It is possible in four years time we may not recognize what the US has become." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Hammer and the Progress of The Daily Bell

Kill Lists Will Continue

"What media attention there has been has focused far too narrowly on the lists maintained by the White House and National Security Council that include American citizens. The reality is that kill lists have metastasized across the government to include the Pentagon and the CIA and are symptomatic of a transformation of U.S. foreign and defense policies. They have all become part of a ten year government created master plan to confront Islamic fundamentalism worldwide using drones and special operations teams, with little or no consideration for the local conditions that have led to the rise of religious extremism nor any concern for the consequences." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKill Lists Will Continue

Glenn Greenwald: Petraeus scandal is reported with compelled veneration of all things military

"There are several revealing lessons about this media swooning for Petraeus even as he exits from a scandal that would normally send them into tittering delight. First, military worship is the central religion of America's political and media culture. The military is by far the most respected and beloved institution among the US population - a dangerous fact in any democracy - and, even assuming they wanted to (which they don't), our brave denizens of establishment journalism are petrified of running afoul of that kind of popular sentiment. Second, it is truly remarkable what ends people's careers in Washington - and what does not end them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Petraeus scandal is reported with compelled veneration of all things military

Tortured by the Government You Served? Tough Luck

"In 2004, a U.S. Navy veteran named Donald Vance went to Iraq to work as a security contractor. When he discovered that the company employing him was selling weapons to radical Islamist militias, Vance contacted the FBI and began feeding it information. Rather than acting on Vance’s disclosures, the military seized him. For several weeks Vance was imprisoned in an Iraqi dungeon, where he was subjected to interrogation that legally qualified as torture. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed Vance’s lawsuit, arguing that Rumsfeld and every other official in the military chain of command enjoys blanket immunity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTortured by the Government You Served? Tough Luck

Neo-Con Revenge: Post-Election ‘Attack Iran’ Machine on Overdrive

"US sends drone to spy on Iran, as it has done continuously for years, no doubt collecting targeting data to assist in US/Israeli attack on Iran. Iran reportedly fires at drone gathering targeting data to assist US in bombing Iran. US astonished at Iran's 'aggression' toward US drone gathering intelligence to assist a US attack on Iran. US shocked that the Iranians would have the gall to respond to US hostile gestures in the region. Oh but it was in international waters! Imagine the US response to an Iranian drone operating in international Gulf of Mexico waters off of Florida." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNeo-Con Revenge: Post-Election ‘Attack Iran’ Machine on Overdrive