military industrial complex

Students say they will continue protesting ‘war criminal’ David Petraeus

"Students at the City University of New York have said they will continue protesting against David Petraeus and pledged to 'make his time in New York a living hell' after a video emerged showing the former general being hounded as he left the university on Monday. Petraeus, who served as commanding general in Iraq, overseeing all coalition forces in the country, is teaching a course titled 'Are We On the Threshold of the North American Decade?' Hunter College professor Sandor John, who helped organise the protest, told CNN that 'a lot of our students are from countries that have been targeted by the United States'. He added: 'We don’t want someone like him on campus.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudents say they will continue protesting ‘war criminal’ David Petraeus

Gunman dead after killing 4 at heavily secured Washington Naval Yard

"A heavily armed gunman opened fire at the Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C., Monday morning killing four people and shooting as many as 12, a senior Naval official told NBC News. Washington police swat teams cornered at least one of the shooters, who they said was carrying an AR-15, double barrel shotgun, and a handgun in the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building. At least one officer had been shot in both legs at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, NBC News reported. The building has heavy security and requires a government I.D. to enter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGunman dead after killing 4 at heavily secured Washington Naval Yard

U.S. was ‘hair’s breadth’ from detonating nuclear bomb over North Carolina

"Days after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, the American military came within a 'hair’s breadth' of detonating a nuclear explosion over North Carolina. A pair of Mark 29 hydrogen bombs — each of which was 250 times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima — were accidentally deployed when the B-52 hauling them went into an uncontrolled spin. One of them fell to the ground unarmed, but the failsafe mechanisms in the other underwent a cascade of failure. Had the bomb exploded, the lethal fallout would have spread across the Eastern Seaboard, blanketing New York and Washington D.C." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. was ‘hair’s breadth’ from detonating nuclear bomb over North Carolina

The Proof Is In the Putin

"The punditocracy is shouting almost in unison that Russia and Syria have pulled one over us. The US, they say, has been weakened because someone halted the momentum of the American war juggernaut. You see, the pundits and the pols cannot perceive of greatness outside the state because they are part of the state apparatus; and depend on it for status and income. Think about it. Who benefits when America goes to war? Not you. Not ordinary Americans. Those who benefit “function within the nimbus of great power” in D.C. and around it—the media-military-congressional-industrial complex." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Proof Is In the Putin

Report: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users

"This revelation adds to the growing list of ways that the NSA is believed to snoop on ostensibly private online conversations. In what appears to be a slide taken from an NSA presentation that also contains some GCHQ slides, the agency describes 'how the attack was done' on 'target' Google users. NSA employees log into an internet router—most likely one used by an internet service provider or a backbone network. (It's not clear whether this was done with the permission or knowledge of the router's owner.) Once logged in, the NSA redirects the 'target traffic' to an 'MITM,' a site that acts as a stealthy intermediary, harvesting communications before forwarding them to their intended destination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users

NSA chief Clapper: Data spying debate ‘probably needed to happen’

"'As loathe as I am to give any credit for what’s happened here, which is egregious…' said National Intelligence Director James Clapper, 'I think it’s clear that some of the conversations that this has generated, some of the debate… actually probably needed to happen.' Clapper, speaking at a conference in Washington, said the public discussion examining the balance between spying powers and privacy rights 'perhaps' should have taken place earlier. 'So if there’s a good side to this, maybe that’s it,' he said of the Snowden media leaks. His comments were the first time a senior US intelligence figure had portrayed the leaks as sparking a useful debate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA chief Clapper: Data spying debate ‘probably needed to happen’

6 Whopping Government Misstatements About NSA Spying

"Whistleblower Edward Snowden’s leaks about NSA spying have set off a fierce global debate about security and privacy in the internet age. The revelations of the United States performing mass surveillance on an international scale have also unleashed an avalanche of government misstatements aimed at defending, or even denying, the NSA’s dragnet surveillance. We’ve gone through them and picked out some of the biggest whoppers." Continue reading →

Continue Reading6 Whopping Government Misstatements About NSA Spying

United States military deployments – Wikipedia

"The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with 172,966 of its 1,372,522[1]active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories. Most of these overseas personnel are deployed in combat zones in the Middle east, as part of the War on Terror. The following are countries, listed by region, in which U.S. military personnel are deployed. The most current numbers are based on United States Department of Defense statistics as of December 31, 2012.[1] These numbers do not include any military or civilian contractors or dependents. Countries with fewer than 75 U.S. personnel deployed are omitted." Continue reading →

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer defends tech company NSA cooperation

"Mayer said she was 'proud to be part of an organisation that from the beginning, in 2007, has been sceptical of – and has been scrutinizing – those requests [from the NSA].' Yahoo has previously unsuccessfully sued the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court, which provides the legal framework for NSA surveillance. In 2007 it asked to be allowed to publish details of requests it receives from the spy agency. 'When you lose and you don’t comply, it’s treason,' said Mayer. 'We think it make more sense to work within the system,' she said. The meeting came as Yahoo and Facebook filed suits once more to force the Fisa court to allow them to disclose more information." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYahoo CEO Marissa Mayer defends tech company NSA cooperation

The Hidden Arms Race

"It’s safe to say that Muslims across the world see U.S. bombers and Tomahawk missiles as raw, 'Western Christian' aggression against their kith and kin. This is the case no matter how much legalistic justification our government places on what happens — like 'punishing' the Syrian government for using chemical weapons, or whatever. So what’s the biggest issue for investors right now? Well, at the Agora Financial Wealth Symposium in Vancouver, one speaker discussed how broad markets were 'priced for perfection.' That is, the general indexes, collective share prices, price-earnings ratios, etc. are all indicating a market psychology of everything being fine, and getting better." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Hidden Arms Race