Police State

FBI director claims NSA spying could have prevented 9/11

"The FBI has shrugged off growing congressional anxiety over its surveillance of US citizens, claiming such programs could have foiled the 9-11 terrorist attacks and would prevent 'another Boston'. In a frequently heated debate over balancing privacy and security, Mueller went further than other government officials in claiming that the collection of data on all American phone calls had become an essential part of counter-terrorism efforts and would make the US 'exceptionally vulnerable' if watered down. He also rejected calls from technology companies such as Google to disclose the scale of the programs, saying even this information could help terrorists." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI director claims NSA spying could have prevented 9/11

Paul Craig Roberts: What Is The Government’s Agenda?

"How can something as rare as terrorism justify the destruction of the US Constitution and US civil liberty? How safe is any American when their government regards every citizen as a potential suspect who has no rights? What is the government’s real agenda? Clearly, 'the war on terror' is a front for an undeclared agenda. In 'freedom and democracy' America, citizens have no idea what their government’s motives are in fomenting endless wars and a gestapo police state. The only information Americans have comes from whistleblowers, who Obama ruthlessly prosecutes. The presstitutes quickly discredit the information and demonize the whistleblowers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: What Is The Government’s Agenda?

Vladimir Putin defends the U.S. on spying programs, drones and Occupy Wall Street

"Russian President Vladimir Putin called the massive U.S. surveillance programs, revealed last week by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, 'generally practicable' and 'the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.' His comments seemed to defend programs that have been deeply controversial in the United States and much of Europe, offering an endorsement that the Obama administration is probably not thrilled to receive. He said of the New York city police response to Occupy Wall Street, in a comment sympathetic toward controversial U.S. programs, 'That’s the way it’s done in the U.S., and that’s the way it’s done in Russia.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVladimir Putin defends the U.S. on spying programs, drones and Occupy Wall Street

Utah Woman Killed Allegedly “Assassination Style” By Now Disbanding Special Narcotics Unit

"Melissa Kennedy and Frederick Willard, parents of the late Danielle Willard, are suing local police in an extraordinary case in which they say that their daughter was shot to death 'assassination style' by a now disbanded special narcotics unit that has been accused of corruption and abuse. They are using West Valley City, its police Officers Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon, Lt. John Coyle, Police Chief Thayle 'Buzz' Nielsen, and 10 Doe officers, in Federal Court. The unit was disbanded after the disappearance of money and drugs as well as the tossing out of roughly 100 drug cases. What is odd is that there are no criminal charges given this record of the unit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUtah Woman Killed Allegedly “Assassination Style” By Now Disbanding Special Narcotics Unit

America’s private prison system is a national disgrace

"Since 1980, the US prison population has grown by 790%. We have the largest prison population of any nation in the history of the world. One in three African-American men will go to jail at some point in his life. Imprisoning that many people, most of them for non-violent offenses, doesn’t come cheap, especially when you’re paying private contractors. The United States now spends $50bn on our corrections system every year. Much of that money goes to private contractors, who are doing quite well living off of American corporate welfare – at the expense of the American taxpayer, whose dollars are funding this mass incarceration project." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s private prison system is a national disgrace

Does the Fourth Amendment Exist Any More?

"When Boulder, Colorado resident Chrissy Smiley returned to her condo after walking her dog, she was stunned to find a card from a police officer on her dining room table. When she called the department she was informed that the fact she had left a sliding door unlocked and partially open constituted 'probable cause' to conduct a welfare check. The Boulder Police Department insists that entering what they call 'unsecured residences' is 'standard operating procedure' and that it will continue. In Stillwater, Minnesota Sonya Sylos was startled to find a sheriff’s deputy and two police officers who had entered her home at 2:00 a.m. without a warrant or permission." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoes the Fourth Amendment Exist Any More?

The Torture State’s Latest Victory

"The Supreme Court has quietly dismissed a lawsuit filed by a U.S. Navy veteran named Donald Vance who was illegally imprisoned and tortured by the government he served. In 2004, during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Donald Vance went to that country to work as a security contractor. He soon discovered that the company employing him was deeply corrupt and selling weapons to radical Islamist militias. Vance contacted the FBI and began feeding it information about what he found. This prompted military officials to arrest Vance and confine him in an Iraqi dungeon, where he was tortured." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Torture State’s Latest Victory

Glenn Greenwald slams Rep. Peter King: He supported terrorism for decades

"Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Wednesday night ripped into Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and pointed out the congressman’s support of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Greenwald told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that it was 'staggering' to see King call for him to face criminal charges for reporting on secret information about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program. 'It’s bad enough to call for that, it is extraordinarily menacing that he did so based on a complete falsehood, the idea that I ever threatened to [disclose CIA agents],' he said. Greenwald said he had no idea why King was making the false accusation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald slams Rep. Peter King: He supported terrorism for decades

James Bamford: Connecting the Dots on PRISM, Phone Surveillance, and the NSA’s Massive Spy Center

"Physically, the NSA has always been well protected by miles of high fences and electrified wire, thousands of cameras, and gun-toting guards. But that was to protect the agency from those on the outside trying to get in to steal secrets. Now it is confronting a new challenge: those on the inside going out and giving the secrets away. While the agency has had its share of spies, employees who have sold top-secret documents to foreign governments for cash, until the last few years it has never had to deal with whistleblowers passing top-secret information and documents to the press because their conscience demanded it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJames Bamford: Connecting the Dots on PRISM, Phone Surveillance, and the NSA’s Massive Spy Center

Thomas Drake: Snowden saw what I saw – surveillance criminally subverting the constitution

"I differed as a whistleblower to Snowden only in this respect: in accordance with the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, I took my concerns up within the chain of command, to the very highest levels at the NSA, and then to Congress and the Department of Defense. I understand why Snowden has taken his course of action, because he's been following this for years: he's seen what's happened to other whistleblowers like me. By following protocol, you get flagged – just for raising issues. You're identified as someone they don't like, someone not to be trusted. In November 2007, I was raided by a dozen armed FBI agents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThomas Drake: Snowden saw what I saw – surveillance criminally subverting the constitution