Orwellian

Paul Craig Roberts: Lawlessness Is The New Normal

"Europe headlines are that 'NSA surveillance threatens the EU free trade deal' and 'Merkel demands explanations.' The protests are the necessary public posturing of puppets and will be regarded as such by Washington. The French government says the trade talks should be temporarily suspended 'for a couple of weeks to avoid any controversy.' However, the German government says, 'We want this free trade agreement and we want to start the talks now.' In other words, what Merkel describes as 'unacceptable Cold War-style behavior' is acceptable as long as Germany gets the free trade agreement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Lawlessness Is The New Normal

It Is Now Common Knowledge That US Drones Bomb Civilian Rescuers

"That tactic is known as the 'double tap,' which bombs multiple targets in relatively quick succession — meaning that the second strike often hits first responders. In 2007 the FBI said the tactic as commonly used by terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Last year a study by NYU and Stanford detailed the U.S. use of the double tap, providing first-hand accounts of its devastating effect on rescuers and humanitarian workers. Last June the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Christof Heyns said he considers secondary strikes to be 'war crimes.' The fact that it is now normalized as a common tactic of the U.S. drone war is stunning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt Is Now Common Knowledge That US Drones Bomb Civilian Rescuers

Students DESTROY NSA Recruiters Over Illegal Spying and Lies

"When NSA recruiters went to the University of Wisconsin earlier this week to pitch language students on working for the agency, they got more than they bargained for. The informed students turned the question-and-answer session into a hearing. On trial were the NSA's lies, their legality, and how they define 'adversary'. The students recorded audio of the exchange on an iPhone proving that the language-analyst NSA recruiters were left tongue-tied." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudents DESTROY NSA Recruiters Over Illegal Spying and Lies

The Whistleblower’s Guide to the Orwellian Galaxy: How to Leak to the Press

"It is, as one commenter noted, 'a dangerous time to be right when the government is wrong.' We now live in a world where public servants informing the public about government behavior or wrongdoing must practice the tradecraft of spies and drug dealers à la The Wire. Even the head of the CIA can’t email his mistress without being identified by the FBI. And privately collected data isn’t immune, either; highly sensitive metadata is particularly vulnerable thanks to the Third Party Doctrine. So how can one safely leak information to the press, let alone coordinate a Deep Throat-style meetup? Here’s a guide." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Whistleblower’s Guide to the Orwellian Galaxy: How to Leak to the Press

Thank you for your service, Mr. Snowden

"Tellingly, the tools of Big Media and big government are not apprising you of these facts. Like a tortoise in its shell, they’ve retreated from the watersheds that are the AP, the IRS and the NSA scandals, informing you only of what New York and Northeast elites think is important: 'Most of you still like Obama.' Come every Memorial Day – more aptly called 'Dying For Nothing Day' – we direct a commonplace saying at members of a military that has not defended authentic American liberties for decades. It is, however, to a young man such as this that we should say 'Thank you for your service, Mr. Snowden.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThank you for your service, Mr. Snowden

Jimmy Carter: U.S. Has ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’

“Recent legislation has made legal the president’s right to detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with terrorist organizations or ‘associated forces,’ a broad, vague power that can be abused without meaningful oversight from the courts or Congress. In addition to American citizens’ being targeted for assassination or indefinite detention, recent laws have canceled the restraints in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to allow unprecedented violations of our rights to privacy through warrantless wiretapping and government mining of our electronic communications.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJimmy Carter: U.S. Has ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’

Snowden leaks now threaten U.S.-EU cooperation on travel, financial data

"The European Union is threatening to suspend two agreements granting the United States access to European financial and travel data unless Washington shows it is respecting EU rules on data privacy. Struck in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and regarded by Washington as important tools in the fight against terrorism, the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) provides the U.S. Treasury with data stored in Europe on international financial transfers, and the Passenger Name Record agreement covers data provided by passengers when booking tickets and checking in for flights. All such information is passed to Homeland Security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden leaks now threaten U.S.-EU cooperation on travel, financial data

Jimmy Carter: ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’

"Recent legislation has made legal the president’s right to detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with terrorist organizations or 'associated forces,' a broad, vague power that can be abused without meaningful oversight from the courts or Congress. In addition to American citizens’ being targeted for assassination or indefinite detention, recent laws have canceled the restraints in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to allow unprecedented violations of our rights to privacy through warrantless wiretapping and government mining of our electronic communications." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJimmy Carter: ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’

Who is this that “Makes Nations Tremble”?

"Mr. Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush, had gone to the Tanzanian capital to commemorate the 15th anniversary of a terrorist bombing at the U.S. embassy. Just hours later, his administration quietly ordered two European countries – France and Portugal – to deny access to their airspace to a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales home from Russia. This was a hijacking – an act of official terrorism committed against an elected head of state of a country with which the US is not at war. The President who authorized it commands a nuclear arsenal and routinely kills innocent people through remote-controlled drones." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho is this that “Makes Nations Tremble”?