military industrial complex

CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou’s Open Letter to Edward Snowden

"Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is serving a thirty-month sentence in prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania, has written another letter. It expresses support for former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has exposed secret US government surveillance programs and policies, and provided a glimpse of the ever-expanding massive surveillance apparatus the government has built. Kiriakou was the first member of the CIA to publicly acknowledge that torture was official US policy under the administration of President George W. Bush. He was convicted in October of last year of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou’s Open Letter to Edward Snowden

Scientists invent contact lenses that bestow telescopic vision

"Researchers in Switzerland and San Diego said this week that they have developed contact lenses that can bestow telescopic vision upon the wearer. The contacts work in conjunction with a set of special glasses that wouldn’t seem that unusual by themselves. Inside the lens, a tiny ring reflects light back and forth with hundreds of aluminum mirrors. Those mirrors are positioned precisely so that all the points of light come together in an image projected onto the eye that depicts the world magnified by 2.8 times, according to the BBC. The project was funded through the U.S. Department of Defense’s research wing DARPA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScientists invent contact lenses that bestow telescopic vision

Germany prepares to charge UK and US intelligence over fresh bugging allegations

"Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s office said it was preparing to bring charges against British and US intelligence today amid fresh allegations that the services spied far more extensively than thought on German phone and internet traffic and bugged European Union offices in America. The leak from fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden claimed that the NSA tapped into half a billion German phone calls, emails and SMS messages each month. Reports last week revealed extensive tapping of German phone and internet traffic by British intelligence under its so-called Tempora programme. The information was said to be shared with the NSA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany prepares to charge UK and US intelligence over fresh bugging allegations

Glenn Greenwald: ‘Obama Admin Using Snowden as an Example in War on Whistleblowers’

"Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian newspaper columnist who first published Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA surveillance programs, joined Fox and Friends this morning and said that there are many more secrets still to come to light. While he declined to specifically say what they were at this time, he did say, 'There are vast programs of both domestic and international spying that the world will be shocked to learn about that the NSA has engaged in with no democratic accountability.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: ‘Obama Admin Using Snowden as an Example in War on Whistleblowers’

Text of the June 27 Letter of 26 U.S. Senators to the Director of National Intelligence

"Twenty-six Senators on June 27 sent a letter to James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence. The letter begins with an admission that the information about this domestic snooping came from 'an unauthorized disclosure.' This means Edward Snowden. Only because Snowden had the courage to release the documents supporting this practice were 26 Senators willing to confront the domestic spying network. We will now get to see Mr. Clapper stonewall the 26 Senators. We will get to see if he gets fired for stonewalling them. We will get to see if the officially admitted budget of the NSA is reduced for Clapper to comply with the requests of the 26 Senators." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingText of the June 27 Letter of 26 U.S. Senators to the Director of National Intelligence

John Whitehead: Orwell Revisited

"In conjunction with the upcoming release of his new book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, John W. Whitehead sits down to discuss several 'pressure points' that are threatening the Bill of Rights and undermining our essential freedoms. In part seven of this special series, Whitehead explains the ways in which George Orwell's dystopian nightmare is slowly but surely becoming our reality." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Whitehead: Orwell Revisited

Military air tankers join fight against deadly Arizona wildfire

"The US military ordered four air tankers to join fire-dousing efforts in Arizona, where firefighters were battling a still out-of-control inferno which killed 19 of their comrades. The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) planes will be redeployed from other states to help tackle blazes including the Yarnell Hill fire, which remained zero percent contained despite a doubling of ground crews fighting it. The extra firefighting aircraft, which are specially-equipped military C-130 planes, can drop 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, and can be refilled in less than 12 minutes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary air tankers join fight against deadly Arizona wildfire

Customs And Border Patrol Considered Weaponizing Drones

"A Customs & Border Protection (CPB) report, released in response to EFF’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the agency, shows CBP has considered adding weapons to its domestic Predator drones. The report, titled 'Concept of Operations for CBP’s Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System' and submitted to Congress on June 29, 2010 shows that, not only is the agency planning to sharply increase the number of Predator drones it flies and the amount of surveillance it conducts by 2016, but it has considered equipping its Predators with 'non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize' targets of interest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCustoms And Border Patrol Considered Weaponizing Drones

U.S. Helping Iranians With Surveillance Circumvention Technologies

"While Americans are making a big deal that the NSA is spying on everyone, Obama comes out and fervently defends the practice. NSA spying on you is the good kind. The 'bad' surveillance happens over in Iran. So what else for the U.S. government to do than supply Iranian citizens with surveillance circumvention technologies! Bloomberg reports: 'The U.S. State Department is helping develop a number of general-use surveillance circumvention technologies,' Sascha Meinrath, founder of the Commotion Wireless Project, a non-profit group trying to build such devices, said in an email.' The irony is so thick, you can barely see!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Helping Iranians With Surveillance Circumvention Technologies

Drone strikes are an order of magnitude deadlier to Afghans than manned aircraft

"A study conducted by a US military adviser has found that drone strikes in Afghanistan during a year of the protracted conflict caused 10 times more civilian casualties than strikes by manned fighter aircraft. The new study, referred to in an official US military journal, contradicts claims by US officials that the robotic planes are more precise than their manned counterparts. It appears to undermine the claim made by President Obama in a May speech that 'conventional airpower or missiles are far less precise than drones, and likely to cause more civilian casualties and local outrage'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDrone strikes are an order of magnitude deadlier to Afghans than manned aircraft