military industrial complex

Internet Fascism and the Surveillance State

"This has been a common historical pattern in the rise of totalitarian States, which have often sought to incorporate large business concerns into their network of power. Indeed, the very notion of 'public-private partnerships' in this sector readily brings to mind the worst aspects of fascist economic systems that have historically existed. The actions of US companies that have cooperated in the NSA’s mass surveillance operations calls into question the 'private' status of these companies. In many ways these companies have acted as an extension of the US government, providing information illegally, in exchange for privileges and intelligence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet Fascism and the Surveillance State

Booz Allen Grew Rich on Government Contracts

"Over the last decade, much of the company’s growth has come from selling expertise, technology and manpower to the National Security Agency and other federal intelligence agencies. Booz Allen earned $1.3 billion, 23 percent of the company’s total revenue, from intelligence work during its most recent fiscal year. The government has sharply increased spending on high-tech intelligence gathering since 2001, and both the Bush and Obama administrations have chosen to rely on private contractors like Booz Allen for much of the resulting work. Thousands of people formerly employed by the government now do essentially the same work for private companies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBooz Allen Grew Rich on Government Contracts

Insider Speaks About Booz Allen, The Employer of Edward Snowden

"'If I was a little younger and a little crazier that would have been me. I know exactly why he did it,' was the comment that a former long-time Booz Allen Hamilton employee greeted me with, when I put a phone call into him to get his take on the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an employee of Booz Allen. My source had previously told me, before he left, that he was leaving Booz Allen because security at the firm was getting oppressive. My source tells me that Booz Allen always had important USG contracts, but they really picked up when the Carlyle Group bought Booz Allen. That's when you really started to see the Penatgon and CIA contracts flow in, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInsider Speaks About Booz Allen, The Employer of Edward Snowden

Justin Raimondo: Snowden a Hero to Americans

"American voters say 55 – 34 percent that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower, rather than a traitor, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. In a massive shift in attitudes, voters say 45 – 40 percent the government’s anti-terrorism efforts go too far restricting civil liberties, a reversal from a January 14, 2010, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University when voters said 63 – 25 percent that such activities didn’t go far enough to adequately protect the country. Almost every party, gender, income, education, age and income group regards Snowden as a whistle-blower rather than a traitor." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustin Raimondo: Snowden a Hero to Americans

Snowden reportedly has ‘blueprint’ on how NSA operates

"Snowden has 'literally thousands of documents' that constitute 'basically the instruction manual for how the NSA is built' that could aid in duplicating or evading NSA surveillance tactics, The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald told the news agency on Sunday. Greenwald said the NSA 'blueprints' don't represent a threat to U.S. national security, but could be embarrassing to the government. 'I think it would be harmful to the U.S. government, as they perceive their own interests, if the details of those programs were revealed,' Greenwald told the AP." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden reportedly has ‘blueprint’ on how NSA operates

US, EU kick off Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks despite Snowden revelations

"The main goal is to agree on removing bureaucratic, regulatory and protectionist barriers to more open trade and investment to create what would be the world’s largest free-trade area, involving 820 million people. Key focuses of the talks ahead include agricultural trade, cross-border investment, intellectual property rights and regulatory harmonization. To avoid stalling the talks, separate US-EU discussions on the NSA activities were held quietly this week at the Department of Justice. Washington will push Europe to open up to US biotechnology products like genetically modified foods, which many European consumers consider dangerous." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS, EU kick off Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks despite Snowden revelations

Paul Rosenberg: 9 Plagues That Are Collapsing Capitalism

"Our marginally capitalist, partly-free market systems are approaching a massive collapse. Not because of what capitalism is, mind you, but because the powers that be have bastardized it. Capitalism can bear many distortions and abuses, but it is not indestructible. And, make no mistake, the ‘capitalist’ system we have today has been massively corrupted, so much so that it’s sagging under the load… and will continue to do so until the proverbial straw breaks its back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Rosenberg: 9 Plagues That Are Collapsing Capitalism

CIA Allowed To Sustain Cover-Up of Bay Of Pigs History; Reclassification Denied

"More than year after the National Security Archive sued the CIA to declassify the full 'Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation,' a U.S. District Court judge today sided with the Agency's efforts to keep the last volume of the report secret in perpetuity. In her ruling, Judge Gladys Kessler accepted the CIA's legal arguments that, because Volume V was a 'draft' and never officially approved for inclusion in the Agency's official history, it was exempt from declassification under the 'deliberative process privilege' despite having been written over 30 years ago. The National Security Archive called the decision 'a regrettable blow to the right-to-know'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Allowed To Sustain Cover-Up of Bay Of Pigs History; Reclassification Denied

Judge Napolitano: President Obama Puts Politics Above the Rule of Law

"What's going on? What we have is a runaway government, dismissive of the Constitution it has sworn to uphold, contemptuous of the law it is required to enforce and driven by its own values of maximum control and minimum personal freedom. And we have a Congress supine enough to let this happen, as well as a judiciary so tangled in its own arcane procedures that immeasurable human freedom will be destroyed and Obama out of office before any meaningful judicial review can be had. Is this the rule of law? What shall we do about it?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Napolitano: President Obama Puts Politics Above the Rule of Law

Radley Balko: “Once a town gets a SWAT team you want to use it”

"For decades, the war on drugs has empowered police to act aggressively. More recently, 9/11 and school shootings enforced the notion that there’s no such thing as too much security. Since 9/11, Homeland Security has distributed billions in grants, enabling even some small town police departments to buy armored personnel carriers and field their own SWAT teams. Once you have a SWAT team the only thing to do is kick some ass. There are more than 100 SWAT team raids every day in this country. They’re not chasing murderers or terrorists. For the most part they go after nonviolent offenders like drug dealers and even small time gamblers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRadley Balko: “Once a town gets a SWAT team you want to use it”